now it's time to throw it over to suzanne malveaux. but i'll be back with talkback in just a few minutes. >> i know. it brought tears to my eyes. >> thanks, carol. live from studio 7, i'm suzanne mall vow. we have a lot going on in the next few hours. first, i want to get you up to speed for this friday, may 6th. al qaeda today confirmed the death of its leader, osama bin laden, and promised new attacks on the united states. a statement posted on jihadist websites says bin laden's blood, quote, will not be wasted. it goes on to say bin laden's death will become a curse on america. anti-americ americaamerican fur

today demanding the united states end military raids in pakistan. protesters say this violated pakistan sovereignty. nic robertson was right in the middle of that demonstration that we just showed you. nic, first of all, we're going to talk about those protests. we'll get to it in just a bit. first, what can you tell us more about this statement from al qaeda confirming bin bladen's death? >> well, it's taken them five days, but now they finally accept that the leader, osama bin laden is dead and they're using this to galvanize supporters saying his blood is too precious to be lost in vain, that they will chase, united states, america and its allies in their countries and outside their countries, as well. they say that this will not change their objective. they will continue planning attacks without tiredness, they say, and they've also called on the people of pakistan to rise up and wash out the stain of bin

laden's death. they say it is traitors in pakistan that caused osama bin laden's death and they're calling on people here to rise up, clean the country of these traitores and throw out the united states from pakistan. so what al qaeda is trying to do here is really use bin laden's death to maximum advantage. interestingly, though, now, they have accepted that he is dead and vowing to continue and even take revenge here, suzanne. >> nic, tell us about those protests that you were in the middle of. how big was the demonstration? are they likely to have an impact on what's going on on the ground? >> you know, what is really interesting, on one hand, you have al qaeda here calling for pakistanees to rise up and wash the stain off their land. this was a very small and tame demonstration. it was a very small number of people. it was after friday prayers. kas was called by the biggest and most influential islamic party here in the country. but the protesters here were

quite peaceful. there were a couple of signs written in english. one of them even seemed to be recycled from a previous protest calling the united states terrorists. the rally here is from an opposition party. so they're trying to get political advantage out of the situation here, as well. but it didn't seem to be about to turn into violence. so it seemed to me to be very low key and not symptomatic that this anger is certainly going to grow and swell here. >> thank you, nic. nic robertson in the middle of all of that. electronics and other evidence seized in bin laden's compound prompting a nationwide terror alert today. officials say al qaeda wanted to sabotage trains around the country on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. >> with their heads up, it's a warning. i don't think it's necessarily actionable. but i think it's appropriate that they sent this information out to those responsible for that infrastructure. >> pakistan's military says that

osama bin laden's youngest wife told them she didn't leave the xoupd for five years. in fact, she told interrogators that bin laden stayed in two rooms on the third floor the entire time. she was limited to one room. cnn has obtained a copy of bin laden's final gas bill. neighbors identified one of the names on the gas bill as one of the two brothers who owned that compounds. the gas meters were installed in april 2007. the president will held to ft. campbell, kentucky, later today to personally meet with the special ops involved in the raid on bin laden's compound. >> this is the first time we've ever been through this and everybody is on edge. we've never experienced anything like this. we're stuck. we can't get in and we can't get out. >> the mississippi flood rolled into memphis today, spilling water into the downtown and airport areas. in arkansas, 1,000 people have

had to leave their homes. flood waters shed a 20-mile stretch of i-40, the crest at memphis early next week may be the highest since 1937. the jobs recovery picked up speed in april. good news. the labor department says the economy added 244,000 jobs last month. that is 59,000 more than experts actually predicted. still, unemployment rate edged up to 9%, as dus curved workers jumped back into the job market. well, it's only a tenth of a penny, right? but we're all pretty excited about this, american drivers, we're going to take it. aaa says the national average for regular gas has dipped to $3798 a gallon. that is the first decrease after 44 straight days of increases. former president jimmy carter says the obama administration is putting politics ahead of dire human

suffering by refusing to send food to north korea. he says it's a violation of basic human rights. take a listen. >> we're trying to punish kim jong il. we are actually punishing the people. >> the group says a harsh winter killed north korean crops. some people are already now eating grass, leaves, tree bark. now, the obama administration says it wants clear evidence of an urgent need before it's going to offer exclusive help. more of my conversation over the next two hours of "cnn newsroom." here is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the administration says that osama bin laden's killing was an act of national self-defense. and the question today, does it even matter if bin laden's killing was legal? carol is canning the provocative questions, as always. >> not only me, but michael moore. okay. so it's michael moore.

and we know how he can get under your skin, he is extremely left wing. but what he said on cnn's piers morgan about the killing of osama bin laden is getting a lot of attention. >> we're at a point now where we don't -- yeah. what do we need a trial for? just get rid of him. the second you say that, you're saying that you hate being american. you hate what we stand for. you hate what our constitution stands for. >> bear with me. moore thinks we should have put bin laden on trial like we did with the top nazis like we did in world war ii. but before you blow him off, we also have a conservative who kind of agrees with michael moore. >> if they were going in with no option other than to kill him, then i do think that's a problem. they really don't want to capture al qaeda leaders. i mean, i think the record seems pretty clear on that. they've done everything they could to try in the past to transfer this over into a law

enforcement operation. so they don't want to face those legal questions. >> attorney general eric holder told congress the military operation was lawful, an act of national self-defense. cnn legal analyst jeffrey tuban says the u.s. has banned political assassinations since the 1970s. so it's not entirely clear whether the killing was legal. now the united nations high commissioner for human rights wants to know whether the u.s. even planned to capture, not just kill, osama bin laden. so the talk back question today, does it matter if bin laden's killing was legal? facebook.com/carolcnn. and i'll read some of your comments later this hour. >> very provocative, carol. i know. >> you're going to get a lot. >> i know. i've already gotten some. >> i can't wait to hear the responses. thanks, carol. here is a rundown on some of the stories we're covering in the next two hours. folks along the mighty mississippi are bracing for epic flooding.

also, gabriel giffords battling back. an update on her remarkable recovery from a traumatic brain injury. plus, dogs in the military, the important role that they play in combat. and we'll find out how these dogs of war help soldiers recover off the battlefield. finally, more of my exclusive conversation with former president jimmy carter. >> what would you like to be remembered in terms of your legacy for your presidency? >> well web always tell the truth. we kept our country at peace. we've brought peace to other people around the world and we promoted human rights and never deviated from that commitment. those are some of the things. [ marge ] psst.

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aspercreme breaks the grip, with maximum-strength medicine and no embarrassing odor. break the grip of pain with aspercreme. decide cities and towns along the mississippi rivers are bracing for what could be the worst flood since the 1930s. high water is now moving downstream. new evacuations today in arkansas across the mississippi river in memphis. hundreds of homes and businesses are being threatened. our cnn's david mattingly is there. >> suzanne, just a little over a day ago, i would have been standing here on dry land. but look at this now. this is on the river front on mud island here in memphis. this lake behind me is actually a parking lot.

if there were cars in it right now, water would be up to the windows and possibly over the tops of some. what we're looking at right now in memphis is vary large city trying to hold back a very big flood. city parks already flooding and water creeping closer to houses by the day. people in memphis watched the rising mississippi river and wonder. >> how high will the water get, you know? who is most at risk? which land sits lower? >> the mississippi river floods of 2011 are expected to break records to the north of memory this weekend. and then continue setting high water marks as far south at baton rouge. the river is expected to crest in memphis at 48 feet above flood stage. the highest its been in generations. memphis hasn't seen that much water since the disastrous floods of 1937. back then, city officials tell me the river rose all the way to here, where i'm standing, which

is four blocks away from the riverbanks. >> but there have since been big changes to keep the river back, a system of floodwalls, gates and levees developed since the 1950s should keep the city dry. but it's a system that's negative been hit with thvm water. >> they've never been tested, but all of the subject matter experts are telling us we can have a high confidence level. >> army corps of engineers blowing levees to divert flood waters into missouri farmlands slowed the flood's arrival down river. officials around memphis are using the time to prepare. a call has gone out to volunteer toes fill sand bags for government buildinges and hospitals. the hope is they won't be needed. >> the greatest can concern here in memphis isn't actually for property right along the river front. it's for properties along the rivers, the tributaries around memphis that empty into the mississippi. as this river comes up, it

pushes water back up along those rivers and threatens those homes and properties up there. officials today will be going around identifying which areas could be in danger. and they're going to be telling those property owners now is the time to pack up and make plans to leave. don't wait until this river is sitting in your front yard to decide to leave. suzanne. >> thank you. i'm going to go to karen maginnis with the latest on the flooding. karen, i understand you have some incredible video, some pictures, even some casinos, things that are being threatened by these waters. >> absolutely. they're saying they've seen inside the casino owes 3 to 6 inches of rainfall. some of the flood waters have moved in. let's take you to tunica, mississippi right now. this is a big gaming community. there you can see a lot of this surround water lsh. and this hasn't even made its way downstream. we think over the next several days, this will continue to rise. several things beside tess fact that these casinos are closed.

if you have to take in arm ed guards over the casinos or else some might be prone to helping himself. they had a report of a young dog. after a brief chase, they captured the dog. but there was another surprise. the dog is going to have little puppy dogs. across the region, were expecting at memphis not 48 feet above flood stage, but right about 48 feet, and that will be the second highest crest along the mississippi river at memphis, right in this region. they've already seen in the past 14 days 15 to 20 inches of rainfall. i looked over the next five days and there could be an additional one to three inches expected across this region. so that is going to aggravate the problem there. >> very interesting with the dog story and the casinos. yeah. thank you. appreciate it. >> all right. earlier this week, i sat down with president jimmy carter

at his office in plains, georgia. my exclusive interview. we talked about everything from women's rights to same-sex marriage to north korea. he is stirring controversy over his accusations that the u.s. policy of withholding food aid to punish north korea's leadser is a human rights violation. >> i'm just trying to convince the administration, including the state department, to usa i.d. to give food aid to the people who are starving in north korea. >> more of my interview with jimmy carter, up next. this is our advisory board. our field research team. and our product development staff. we know military lives are different. we've been there. that's why our commitment to serve the financial needs of our military, veterans, and their families is without equal. and why, we'll always be there for you... both here... and here. usaa. for insurance, banking, investments, retirement and advice. we know what it means to serve. let us serve you.

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and pure honey. nature valley -- 100% natural. 100% delicious. in january, arizona congresswoman gab reeling gifford was shot in the head at point-blank range. last week, she was seen walking. the bit of effort up the stairs of a plane. sanjay gupta has more now on her recovery. >> in some ways, it is remarkable if you simply consider this fact. only about 5% to 10% of people who have gunshot wounds to the head survive at all. what is it that loud gabby giffords survive? we got more of an idea how things unfolded in her favor.

>> congresswoman giffords was one of three patientsby triaged. the trauma teams moved quickly, especially with brain trauma. it's a practice u.s. doctors have adopted from military doctors triaging injured troops in war zones. and the general of the team is retired navy surgeon dr. peter reed. >> but nowadays, now that we've gotten other experience about penetrating trauma from the recent iraq experience, we're very aggressive about getting to the operating room the neurosurgeons haven't seen films or anything like that. they know someone that needs to have an operation is prepped and draped. anesthesia has got stuff done. i called randy. i said make sure she's lined up. we can't line her up in the o.r. it will take more time. so when we get to the operating room, everything is shaved and ready to go. >> the bullet was fired from a

glock 19 9 millimeter handgun. it entered from the left side, traveled the entire length of her brain and exited the back. i was a focused wound, meaning the damage was concentrated to one area of the brain. >> she was exceedingly lucky, right? when i saw the trajectory of where one hole was and where the other hole was, i was like, oh, my gosh. >> because it was so far apart? >> yeah. it went through a lot. >> because it wasn't a glancing shot. >> yeah. it wasn't a glancing shot. >> so, suzanne, the bullet as you heard there was through and through. that's important because, you know, you have a finite amount of energy from one of these bullets. you want that energy to be dissipated into space as opposed to within the skull here. important. also, there was a relatively small exit wound in the bullet likely did not tumble, did not explode. very important points, as well.

perhaps most importantly, the bullet stayed on one side of the brain, the left side in this case. there's very good data that shows if a bullet crosses over the midline, that's associated with a much poorer outcome. so all those things likely worked in her favor. one of the things, suzanne, people kooem keep asking is will she return to congress? will gabby giffords become a congresswoman again? it's tough to say. i don't think anyone can say for sure. but she is starting to get a lot of function back on the right side of her body. you saw her climbing steps, for example, start to go learn to write with her left hand. she also is getting spontaneous speech pack. speech is often affected as a result of left sided brain injuries. she's start to go speak again in declarative sentences. albeit, short sentence webs but that's going to be progress, as well. it's going to be months into her recovery, not days and weeks. >> thank you, sanjay. sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern, dr.

sanjay gupta meets the paramedics and doctors credited with saving the life of gabrielle giffords. join sanjay on twitter during saving gabby giffords for a live chat. sanjay's twitter alias is@sanjayguptacnn. the 86-year-old former president jimmy carter just got back from north korea wherefore years, he's tried to broker agreements between the north and the south. in a controversial statement, he told me the current u.s. policy of withholding food aid to pressure north korea's leader amounts to a human rights violation. >> and so the united states imposes on them an absence of food aid because we are trying to punish jim kim jong il. >> those are very serious allegations. to say that the obama administration is using this as a political tool to not provide

food aid. >> well, i think that's accurate. we're obviously and publicly officially not providing any food aid to north korea right now. we disagree with the policies of kim jong il and the people are suffering. >> sure the state department says you know better because they know that kim jong is ill is in charge of distributing and denying the food. >> well, so what? so we stop giving the people food? >> who should be held responsible? >> i'm not trying to hold anybody responsible. i'm just trying to convince the administration, including the state department, usa i.d. to give food aid to the people who are starving in north korea. carter is very passionate about fighting for equal rights for women. and we were surprised who he went after. the former president, that's up next. navy sales reportedly got some help from a four-legged

fooit fighter in taking out bin laden. we're going to talk about the role of canines in combat with a former special forces member. mom!

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here is a rundown of some of the stories we are working on. a dog reportedly was a vital part of the mission to take down bin laden. we're going to talk about that with a former u.s. army captain who is an expert on dogs in the military. plus, we're going to take you to

the hometown of the navy s.e.a.l. unit that killed bin laden. and later, if jimmy carter could run for president again, who would he like to run against? he tells me in my exclusive interview with the former president. the navy seals team that took out bin laden got some help. a military dog was attached to one of the s.e.a.l.s who entered bin laden' compound from a helicopter. here to talk about canines in combat is tim crockett. he is a former member of the british special forces. tim, thank you so much for joining us. >> you're welcome. >> what can you tell us about this report that there was a dog involved in that raid? >> well, the use of dogs in military operations is nothing new. there is an increasing use of dogs in today's operations because they can do things that

simply we as humans or soldier, in fact, can do. >> like what? >> they can run faster, jump higher. they can often go into spaces that we could not get into. their sense is heightened. they can help a patrol group of individuals find things such as booby traps, explosive devices, so it prevents those sort of things happening to the soldiers. >> is it controversial? >> of course. there will be some people who think the use of dogs in intat is unethical. >> why? >> well, the serious risk of injury or death to a dog is a possibility. however, the use of dogs has saved lives. they're not, as in some groups suggest, disposable. they are a part of the team. they are loved by their

handlers. when a dog is injured or killed, it's a big, emotional blow for the guys. >> what kind of dogs are typically used in combat? >> historically, we've seen german shem ards used. but i think one of the favorite breeds now is the belgium melomoir. they have healthy hips, legs, and they're very athletic. >> and these kinds of dogs that go into a combat situation we think for humans posttraumatic distress disorder, all types of mental problems, do dogs suffer these kinds of things after combat? >> to some extent, yes. they're going to feel the effect that any human will do or any animal. their health is monitored. and when they fear that they get to a point where the dog is suffering a little bit, they may be rested or they may be retired. many dogs go on to become pets or therapy dogs. >> how common is it to have dogs

involved in these combat operations? >> the mission, the specific task will dictate what tools you're going to use, what weapons you're going to use, how you're going to get there, the actual team makeup. so that goes into account as well as the use of dogs. >> do we know what kind of -- what the dog whereas doing in this operation to take down bin laden? >> i would imagine used to detect explosive devices. we've seen in the past throughout iraq and in afghanistan that the fighters have rigged booby traps to kill or injury those assaulting troops. they would have gone in perhaps to detect those. they would have been used perhaps if they felt that osama was hiding somewhere to find him. >> thank you so much. the president is headed to ft. campbell, kentucky, to privately thank members of the 160 he. that is the helicopter group involved in the assault on osama bin laden's compound. meanwhi meanwhile, the navy s.e.a.l. team that killed bin laden is

back on american soil, but he would never know it and that is by design. cnn's brian todd explains. >> reporter: in a town where the buzzing of fighter jets is constant, where joyful reunions are a staple, america's most fearsome fighting unit goes unnoticed. unofficially called s.e.a.l. team six, they're the navy commandos believed to have killed osama bin laden. s.e.a.l. training takes years. at least 75% of those who try out wash out. despite their ee lite lead status, many of s.e.a.l. team six's neighbors here in virginia beach wouldn't know one of those warriors if they fell over him. >> when the s.e.a.l.s come into a place like this, are they noticeable? >> personally, for me, i don't think they're noticeable beyond any other person in the military. >> john mcchoir, a s.e.a.l. for ten years was once stationed in virginia beach.

>> if i'm in a bar with a bunch of s.e.a.l.s, will i know it? >> hopefully you won't. we're just americans. you can't really put us in a box or a category. we're tall, short, large, not so large. we try to blend in and be americans. >> s.e.a.l. team six is widely reported to operate out of this facility near virginia beach. we couldn't get on base. the military doesn't acknowledge that it's here or that it even exists and that code goes beyond operational security at the base. when city officials here in virginia beach asked if they could honor the s.e.a.l.s with simple recognition at a town festival this summer, the navy declined. city councilman isn't surprised. he's a former naval intelligence officer. >> there's no city, no matter where these individuals are from will be able to confirm or deny or throw a ticker tape parade or anything else. >> what will the ceremony be like? is it handing you something or say thanks, don't ever talk about this? >> maybe not even that. i might be speculating. i might be speculating.

maybe a beer and a hoo-yah. >> then the s.e.a.l.s will blend in going to stores, restaurants, coaching little league until that next call comes. then, according to navy support group head mary ellen baldwin, their wives or girlfriends won't even know much. >> well, it's tough times, that's for sure. at any given time, the families don't know when they're going the be deployed with it. it can happen on a holiday, it really doesn't matter. >> a dedication that might compel these folks to want their arms around the s.e.a.l.s if they knew who they were. >> we have the crem de la crem in this area. and thank god we have them. >> brian todd, cnn, virginia beach, virginia. officials call it a treasure trove of intelligence. so how do they wade through all the information recovered from the bin laden raid? next hour, former fbi assistant director tom puentes will walk us through that process. of drea. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's either this magic number i'm supposed to reach, or...

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we've all heard about people losing their memories after a bump on the head or something like that. jeanne moos found a woman who woke up from anesthesia knowing who she was, but sounding completely like someone else. >> reporter: before karen butler went to the dentist, her regular old american accent sounded like this. >> hi. this is karen. sorry i can't come to the phone at the moment.

>> reporter: but after being sedated to have her teeth pulled, she sounded like this. >> and you talk to young girls, they think it's a very, very pretty sound. they say oh, i like an accent like this. i say, oh, just go see my dentist. he only charges seven grand. >> now you open your mouth and everybody wants to know where you're from. >> she's from toledo, oregon, and sthees never been to any of those foreign places. there's nothing fake about this. it's a medical condition called foreign accent syndrome, very rare, fewer than 100 known cases. for instance, a florida woman named judy roberts who had a stroke and went from sounding like this -- we've got fabulous things -- >> to this. >> i felt like i was going bloody crazy. >> doctors believe foreign accent syndrome is usually caused by some sort of brain injury or stroke. but it didn't affect karen's sense of humor, even when it first happened a your and a half ago.

>> i sounded more like i was from transylvania. >> so her daughter recorded a special ring tone saying the words, i want to suck your blood. so it will ring out, i want to suck your blood. oh, it's my mom calling. >> after 27 years of marriage -- >> was it exotic, like you have a new wife? >> no. >> you never miss her old american self-? >> she still is her old american self, except her voice is changed. >> except it doesn't sound unusual to karen. she doesn't hear her voice change until you play it back. things can get really weird when someone calls who knew karen before her accent changed to now they don't believe it's her answering the phone. she's a tax consultant and her voice over the phone shocked one of hurry clients. she called her mother right away and say, somebody is

impersonating karen. >> one thing about acquiring a new accent overnight, sometimes your own husband doesn't understand you. >> i definitely want to buy some postcards. you want to buy a push cart? >> not push cart, a postcard. push cart. why not talk to the person with our favorite accent, our resident. >> it is. i never heard of that before. >> did you get a bump on the head? >> no. i grew up this way. i don't have an act sent, you do. >> can you tell you have the accent? >> i don't have an accent. no, accents are fascinating. i remember living in england reporting out of england for a few years. and the regional nature of the accents there, liverpool, manchester, completely different accents 30 miles away. >> why do you think americans go

gaga over guys like you? they don't. it's not just americans. you go to australia and the guys will be falling all over themselves. >> i hear you get more dates that way. is that true. >> it's completely and utterly untrue. i've heard this myself, but it's never applied to me. i must be going to the wrong places. >> should we put out a ad on match.com? >> clearly i need some help. no, i've had people say that before. i've never noticed interest from that particular other sex because of the accent. or they never say anything, anyway. xooet keep your accent. we like it. >> wrooifb here 16 years. i haven't lost it yet. i'll turn you around. >> thank you, michael. >> good to see you. jimmy carter, if he was on the ballot, who would he like to run against? well, he tosses out a name. it's part of my exclusive conversation with the former president.

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♪ sometimes i feel like saying... ♪ mom! mom! [ male announcer ] you know mom. we know diamonds. storewide now through saturday, we'll make this mother's day one she'll never forget. momma! [ male announcer ] that's why only zales is the diamond store. the bold and deadly u.s. assault on obama bin laden was one of the topics as political analysts faced off. in south carolina, the first gop debate of the 2012 presidential race was held. ball, you're on the cutting knowledge here. what are the candidates saying about obama's decisiveness in the killing of osama bin laden?

>> most of them praised him for that, but they took issue with the president deciding not to release a photo of the body of bin laden. in fact, four of the five said if they were president, they would do it. and they also criticized the president for how is how he's hamming our hot spots. take a listen. >> i do congratulate president obama for the fine job he did in taking some tough decisions and being decisive as it related to fining and killing osama bin laden. he did a good job and i tip my hat to him in that moment. but that moment is not the sum total of america's foreign policy. he's made a number of other decisions relating to our security here and around the world that i don't agree with. >> the decision he made with osama bin laden was a tactical decision. the strategic decision was made already by president bush to get after him. what president obama has done on his watch, the issues that have come up while he's been president, he's gotten it wrong

strategically every sympathy time. >> only five candidates on the stage. usually one of the headlines of a did want debate is what was said or who came under attack. but one of the headlines for this debate last night is where was everybody else? a lot of the big names like mitt romney, newt gingerich, maybe even donald trump, not at this debate. i think in the next month or two, we'll have a clearer picture of the gop field. suzanne. >> and one of the people watching that field is former president jimmy carter. i had a chance to talk with him earlier in the week about all things political, as well. who do you think he likes for the race for 2012? >> well, i'm guessing he's going to back barack obama. he's a democrat and so is the current president. but you have a surprise for me, i'm sure. >> that's a pretty safe bet, but check out the shout out that he gave. take a listen. looking ahead to 2012, when you look at the republicans, anybody say, hey, i'd like to run against him or her? >> no. you know, i was in china and it

was the last days of john huntsman, who has been the ambassador there now for the last couple of years. he's one of the people, i think, that has been very attractive to me personally. of course, my intention is to vote for the democratic candidate. >> you wouldn't go over to the other side? >> who i'm sure will be president obama. >> would you campaign for him? >> if he asks me to. >> sure. >> of course. interesting, huh, paul? carter's nemesis, the late ted kennedy campaigned for obama last round. it would be interesting to see if carter would go on the campaign road. >> that would away surprise if carter was out there campaigning for obama next year. but huntsman is interesting because the former am abuse door to china. he's back here and tomorrow will be right here in south carolina giving a commencement speech at

the university of cycle southbound. he is making the moves and may make an announcement to run for the presidential nomination. suzanne. >> paul, thank you. former president carter, he's 86 years old and we were twooit quite surprised at really how active he is. he still plants peanuts, he paints oil portraits and goes fly fishing. which activity do you think he did before we sat down for the interview? a, write a politically charged open he had, b, call word leaders, c, write sunday school lessons or d, bag a turkey? aaah!

[ airplane engine whines ] [ grunts ] [ dog barking ] gah! [ children shouting ] [ grunts ] [ whacking piñata ] [ whacking piñata, grunting ]

before my interview with former president carter, he told me what he had done during the day. was it, a, write a politically charged op-ed, b, call world leaders, c, write sunday school lessons or d, bag a turkey? the answer, can you believe it? e. all of the above. bagging a turkey for you city slickers it means hunting and killing a turkey. not just going to the grocery store and putting it in the bag. we understand the former first lady cooked it. >> did she pluck it? >> she did it all.

they had it for dinner. he still hunts turkeys, carol. >> i hope she didn't have to pluck it. i wouldn't want to be hunting turkeys if i had to pluck it. >> i was very impressed. >> i am, too i bet it was good. >> this is before 2:00 in the afternoon, before the interview. >> hard to get a turkey, too. >> tell us about the talk-back question. does it matter if bin laden's killing was legal? a lot of talk about that. lucas says who cares if it was legal. do you think bin laden thought about 9/11 being legal? and adam says touch catch 22. we have learned over the past few decade there's is no reasoning with these people. this from kyle, america is supposed to be built on the premise of liberty and justice. how is there justice without a trial? this was political assassination

and nothing more it does matter if it's legal it also would have saved face in the international community and presented a lot of people from getting mad. james says would anyone have this conversation if osama bin laden had been killed by a cruise missile rather than a bullet? and steven, no, it doesn't matter, and neither does michael moore. please continue the conversation and i'll be back in a couple of minutes to tell you what michael moore has to do with all of this. >> nobody is shy, carol. everybody has a strong opinion about everything. >> i like my friends, they're feisty. >> like you. >> thanks. >> one man on a mission of mercy to aid victims of last week's devastating tornadoes. we'll show you how he's providing help and healing. ♪

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but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck. people in 14 states are struggling to recover from the largest tornado outbreak in our history. this tornado ripped through tuscaloosa. look at it. alabama was the hardest-hit state. it was not alone. three people died in a small

northwest georgia town of ri ringold. the population is 2,800 and they had limited emergency resources. that's why 2008 hero tad agolia and his first response team headed there. >> when a disaster strikes, you don't know what you will need. that's why we packaged up four tractor trailers, loaded will just about every type of tool and gear and piece of equipment. we got the generator running. we'll power up this church. we roll those rigs across this country. we decided to come to ringold, georgia, because it's a small community and they didn't most likely have the resources they would need. all these homes were completely destroyed. my team has been to about 38 mega storms at this point but have never seen anything like this. >> it's all gone. almost like the whole city went through a blender. when we first got here, we started powering up the shelter.

clearing the roads. we wanted to just help stabilize the situation. we'll have him come straight in and grab these trees off of these two stones here. >> they went over and cleared the cemetery. that's why i'm able to bury my father today. >> we will keep working until this is done. >> he then came over and offered his services again. >> we joined with the family members on our hands and knees looking for things. >> there's more photos in here. >> we found a wedding picture of my dad and mom. these guys are angels. thank you very much for your team. >> when we see people suffering and struggling, it's our responsibility to come and help. this is part of being human, to see a need and do something about it. all cnn heros are chosen from people you tell us about. go to cnnheroes.com.

live from studio 7, i'm suzanne malveaux. we have a lot going on, including my exclusive interview with former president jimmy carter. first, al qaeda today acknowledged the death of osama bin laden and promised revenge against the united states. a post in a jihadist website said bin laden's blood will be a curse upon americans that follows them everywhere. al qaeda called on pakistanis to rise up and cleanse their country of "the filthy americans." anti-american furor in pakistan today. an influential islamist party demanding the united states end raids in pakistan. pakistan said the bin laden assault violated pakistan's sovereignty. even a terrorist has bills to pay.

cnn's nick peyton walsh got his hands on the proof. >> reporter: this is the last gas bill sent to the bin laden compound. it's due date is about five days time. interestingly, the details on this show a man called muhammad asad being the payee. we presume that's the fake name. more interestingly it says the installation date for the meters in question was in april of 2007. so that would suggest perhaps that utilities were put in place for whoever lived there from that date, perhaps dating the arrival of the bin laden family from around about then. another interesting piece of information we're hearing from a government official here, too, is that actually there were local property taxes owed on that property of about $700, not an enormous amount. frankly tax evasion in pakistan

is commonplace. you couldn't argue th you would argue they would have stood out if they paid up. >> new video shows fires and a possible explosion, presumably u.s. troops blowing up the crippled helicopter. cnn cannot confirm the authenticity of this video. president obama is in indianapolis now focusing on the economy. he will head to ft. campbell, kentucky this an to thank special ops forces used in the raid. the white house is not saying if he will meet with the s.e.a.l. team that got bin laden. >> everybody is on edge. we have never experienced anything like this. we are stuck. we can get in. we can't get out. >> the mississippi river flood surge rolled into memphis today spilling water into the downtown and airport areas. the coast guard just announced it will close the mississippi to

commercial traffic due to that high water. high water also shut a 20-mile stretch of westbound i-40 in arkansas. the crest at memphis earlier next week may be the highest since 1937. question, why is this spring shaping up to be one of the worst flood seasons in decades? chad myers has a few ideas. chad, why is this happening? >> big snow pack, very heavy snow pack. frozen ground. and then this graphic behind me. this is basically 21 days or so of rainfall across the midwest. can't see the scale there. i'll get back to it. there's white, purple, and pink. now we're talking states. kentucky, tennessee, arkansas, missouri, northern mississippi. there's into oklahoma. you can see that. i want to be able to see these numbers. when you see white, that's more

than 20 inches of rainfall. that purple was 15. all that pink. we're talking about six states worth of rainfall at over ten inches, between 10 and 15 inches of rain. the water has to go somewhere. it's drain nothing the floodplain, which is the mississippi river. it's been a floodplain for millions of years. that's what happens. water fills in, it goes down eventually to the gulf of mexico, but not before -- because we built towns, homes, farms, levees, not before it will flood some things. sometimes mother nature takes back over. i'm afraid that's what she's doing this year, flooding all the way from memphis, as you said, down to the gulf of mexico. though they will open up the morganza floodgates for the first time in a long time. we'll get to that in the next half hour. >> thank you, chad. appreciate it.

information seized at osama bin laden's compound prompting a national terror alert. officials say that al qaeda wanted to sabotage trains around the united states on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. the u.s. security agencies are wading through what they are describing as a treasure trove of intelligence recovered at the compound during that raid. joining to us talk about that is cnn contributor tom fuentes. thank you very much. when you look at this, how do they organize, prioritize this information when it's thrown at them and it could be useful information, yes? >> right. the first step in this is going to be to determine if any of the files on the computers were encrypted and defeat the encryption. then they will need to determine what languages the various files are in. you would expect arabic, being bin laden's native language, it could be other languages

involved with some of the files. they would have to have the translators lined up for that the key is, is there any direct threat, attack information that needs to be acted on immediately? >> tom, stick around. we'll have all of that and talk more about it later in detail this hour. >> i will. want to bring in your chance to talk back. one of the big stories of the day, the administration saying that osama bin laden's killing was an act of national self-defense. the question today, does it matter if bin laden's killing was legal? carol costello here with the provocative questions and controversy. >> the question came from michael moore. i know what you're thinking, it's michael moore. we know how he can get under your skin, some of you. what he said on cnn's piers morgan about the killing of osama bin laden is getting a lot of attention. >> we are at a point now where

we don't -- what do we need a trial for? just get rid of him. the second you say that, you're saying that you hate being an american. you hate what we stand for. you hate what our constitution stands for. >> moore thinks we should have put bin laden on trial like we did with the top nazis after world war ii. consider this, we also have a conservative, the guy who defended waterboarding during the bush administration, who kind of agrees with michael moore. >> if they were going in with no options other than to kill him, i do think that's a problem. they really don't want to capture al qaeda leaders. i think the record seems clear on that. they have done everything they could to try in the past to transfer this over into a law enforcement operation. so they don't want to face those kinds of legal questions. >> attorney general eric holder told congress the military operation was lawful, an act of national self-defense. cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin

says the u.s. has banned political assassinations since the '70s, so it's not clear whether the killing was legal. the united nations high commissioner for human rights wants to know if the u.s. planned to capture, not just kill osama bin laden. so, the talk-back question does it matter if bin laden's killing was legal? facebook.com/car facebook.com/carolcnn. >> thank you. here's a look at what's ahead this hour on "the rundown." energy independence. another way to beat al qaeda? president obama talks clean energy to wean the u.s. off foreign oil. then dangerous flooding. the mississippi river forces thousands out of their homes. and april's job reports. economists pleasantly surprised. in addition to being the nation's 39th president, he played a mean game of softball. more of my exclusive

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right now president obama spotlighting efforts to reduce the nation's dependency on foreign oil. he is at the allison transmission plant in indianapolis. the white house says president obama chose this company because it's a leader in hybrid technology used in buses and military vehicles.

the president is discussing his plan to invest in clean energy technologies. it's something he's been stressing for the last several months. his next stop will be ft. campbell, kentucky. he will be thanking those involved in the mission in getting bin laden. he also is going to be meeting with the navy s.e.a.l.s directly involved in getting bin laden, the mastermind of the september 11th attacks. we don't know if all the s.e.a.l.s will be there, but dozens will be there. the president will spend a fair amount of time with them adding it's not a formal debriefing. they can certainly share with him any of the details of the operation. but the president just wanting to thank those members, the navy s.e.a.l.s involved in that operation. many terrorism experts say the killing of bin laden could be a fatal blow to al qaeda.

add to that the growing belief that u.s. energy independence could help seal the fate of that terrorist organization. our cnn's jim acosta has that story. >> reporter: the man behind the wheel of this new electric car can't stand the sight of a gas station. how do you like the car? >> i like it a lot. >> reporter: that's because former cia director james woolsey sees the nation's addiction to foreign oil as its aki aki achilles heel on the war on al qaeda. on every fuel efficient car he drives he puts this sticker on "bin laden hates this car." the only solution, woolsey says is to break the dominance of oil. >> we need to undermine oil's

strategic role, even if they have a monopoly of oil, they don't have a monopoly over transportation. we need to break that link. >> so you want to stick it to these guys? >> absolutely. >> instead, americans are the ones feeling stuck. at a town hall in florida -- >> my gas bill for my three vans in the last three months have gone up hundreds of dollars a month. >> small business owner eileen gains explains how the bill to pick up her vehicles stopped her from hiring a new employee. and so had the gas prices not gone up, you would have been hiring? >> i would have hired someone two months ago. i really need that help right now. >> we have to produce more of it ourselves. >> reporter: republican senator marco rubio like many senators wants offshore drilling. >> we have to figure out a way to become more efficient in our use of energy. we have to figure out how to do

it domestically. >> this thing pops open when you press a button. >> reporter: for woolsey, plugging the car into your house isn't just going green. >> i think it would be a very large message. it would say that the united states can get its act together. >> reporter: sending one more signal to al qaeda that they're running on empty. >> jim acosta joins us live from washington. good to see you. getting off foreign oil. it will take some time. what is the thinking here? >> yeah. you know there are no expressways on the road to energy independence. consider the electric car. if you have millions of new electric cars on the road, you will need lots of new charging stations and that infrastructure is not in place yet. if you go to the answer that republicans are putting forward and some democrats, we need more off-shore domestic oil drilling, energy analysts will tell you that will not have an impact on gas prices for years down the road. there are no quick fixes. but jim woolsey says we have to get going one of these days

because at this point he says we're funding both sides in the war on terror. you're paying for those american soldiers in the middle east fighting these wars, at the same time you're sending your money to oil-rich states that are not too friendly to the united states and may be trying to help some of these terrorist organizations. he says it's time to get this off the ground and get it rolling. >> all right. jim acosta out of washington, thank you. >> you bet. jimmy carter has received some flack for criticizing the u.s. government when it comes to its policy on north korean food aid. hear what he has to say about it in my exclusive interview with the former president from his office in plains, georgia. and maybe up to 4 in a day.e. or, choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. smart move. ♪

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jimmy carter is a busy man. at 86, he is still highly relevant trying to make diplomatic breakthroughs with other countries, writing books, working on his farm. this week i had a chance to sit down with the former president after he got back from trying to secure a deal in north korea. is he making news over a controversial accusation saying the current u.s. policy of withholding food aid to pressure kim jong-il is a human rights violation. >> so the united states imposes on them an absence of food aid because we are trying to punish kim jong-il. we are punishing the people. >> those are serious

allegations, though to say the obama administration is using this as a political tool not to provide food aid. >> i think it's accurate. we are publicly, officially not providing food aid to north korea right now because we disagree with the policies of kim jong-il. >> surely the state department says you know better because they know kim jong-il is the one who is in charge of distributing the food and denying the food. >> so what? so we stop giving people the food? >> who should be held responsible? >> i'm not trying to hold anyone responsible. i'm trying to convince the administration, including the state department, to -- usaid to give food aid to the people starving in north korea. >> so why exactly is president jimmy carter criticizing u.s. policy? why did the united states decide to withhold food aid to north korea? michael holmes is going beyond the headlines. carter went to north korea with two other former leaders as part

of nelson mandela's group, independent group they call the elders, to try to highlight concerns around the world. what do we know about the current u.s. policy when it comes to north korea and food aid? >> let give it some background. the u.s. suspended aid to north korea a couple years ago because, as we heard jimmy carter talk about, it was suspected that the donated food was being diverted to the military, or the elite, and not reaching those most in need. some u.s.-based charities have said north korea is now going to run out of food by the middle of next month this is why jimmy carter is so concerned. north korea has had another harsh weather year. another poor harvest, leaving them severely vulnerable to starvation. that's a big word, starvation. it's not the first time. food has been a major issue for north korea since the mid 1990s. that's when 1 million people died, starved ed td to death. we often hear of the effects of

malnutrition there, people eating grass to survive. i was reading a foreign policy report that said a north korean child can expect to be seven inches shorter than his or her counterpart in south korea. seven inches shorter. >> that is so dramatic. >> malnutrition. >> i remember covering president bush, he hated kim jong-il, didn't want anything to do with him but the bush administration provided a lot of aid. how is the obama administration hitting back here? >> the u.s. state department has refuted all of jimmy carter's comments. officials saying the u.s. is not withholding food aid for political motives. they blame the shortages on the north korean government. the state director of policy planning, jacob sullivan, he said as you know the north koreans were the ones who abruptly suspended the aid program in 20009 ordering our

humanitarian personnel to leave the country and leave behind 20,000 metric tons of food. that may be the case, but north korea is asking for food now. the united nations has already announced plans for emergency food distribution to 3.5 million north koreans, primarily women and children who are starving because of the decimated crop situation. other humanitarian groups who are banned from delivering food say it's cruel. a few hours ago bill richardson, the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations, he jumped into this and agreed with jimmy carter that the u.s. should be allowing food aid. the state department says it is still considering the north korean request for food, based on what they say need, resources availability and the ability to monitor food distribution, where it goes. at the end of the day you're talking about people. you have got a regime that you can love or hate, but the people

are eating grass to survive. >> it seems like there's not enough time. they are just talking about days away. this is a very serious problem. it's good to see the obama administration, bill richardson and others are getting involved and seeing if there's a way to get food to the folks who need it. >> this is looming. >> thank you, michael. digging through a treasure trove of information. we will talk with a former fbi assistant director about wading through the intelligence from that bin laden compound.

here's a rundown of some stories we're working on. what does the u.s. do with all of the information it got from osama bin laden's compound? we will hear what a former assistant director of the fbi has to say. plus record flooding threatens communities along the mississippi and ohio rivers. we'll go live to memphis. and matters of faith for jimmy carter. my exclusive interview with the former president. we'll hear what he has to say about religion and gay rights. u.s. security agents already uncovered one potential plot by al qaeda in the information they got from the bin laden raid. now they are racing the clock looking for more threats. tom fuentes is a former fbi director and cnn contributor. thanks again for joining to us talk about this datamining process. officials are calling this a treasure trove of information. why do they believe this is so available? >> i think because it was in bin

laden's personal custody, suzanne. it's not something from an underling. this is the material he deemed important enough to have at his hand, to be right with him. so, that's why it's so important. >> are there some language difficulties that intelligence official also have in dealing with this kind of information? what are they actually looking at, do you suppose? >> are several challenges. as i mentioned earlier, they have to get through the encryption. whatever password systems are encrypted, used to protect the data that has to be defeated. the original material was turned over to the fbi for evidence and duplicated. all of the analysts in the u.s. intelligence community and law enforcement community and other trusted partners around the world will be working from duplicate copies of the material seized. >> i assume it's in arabic? >> you would assume arabic being bin laden's native language.

but al qaeda was a global organization there could be other files in other languages present. they will need to identify those languages, get the appropriate translators and intel analysts to look at the different files maintained. there. >> what about the financial trail? i imagine they are trying to follow the money and figure out who is financing al qaeda? >> following the money has always been ongoing for decades with them. the difficulty is that if they were using the wala system which is a method of taking cash and transporting something, or the money is paid to the person it's owed to. by avoiding the banking system, there's no electronic trail. >> do we have any sense of whether or not they can tell if there's a successor to bin laden? how could this help identify potential folks in the pipeline just waiting to take over. >> just by having the pipeline. if they look at the thumb

drives, the cds, dvds, which were portable data storage pieces who was he communicating with? who were the couriers going to? if there were attacks who was going to carry those attacks out? are there records of that in that data? that tells you who he trusts, who are the most operational people still in al qaeda central. additionally it would show the relationship -- there's a lot of speculation about how much control al qaeda has with regard to the splinter groups. you have al qaeda and the arabian peninsula, you have al qaeda in north africa, how connected are they to bin laden. you have jammal islamiya, so this will give a great picture for the analysts and take a long time to get through the material to determine what is the corporate structure of al qaeda,

how do they communicate with their members, affiliates and other splinter groups. >> okay. tom fuentes, thank you very much. there's going to be a lot of information as all of this is digested and released. thank you, tom. floodwaters surging down the ohio and mississippi rivers. look at some live pictures now of one of the hardest hit areas. that is memphis, tennessee. thousands of people are now on alert. we will go live there next. she felt lost...

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cities and towns along the mississippi and ohio rivers are bracing for what could be the worst flooding since the 1930s. today the coast guard is closing the mississippi to commercial traffic, that is happening at carrothersville, missouri. david mattingly is in one of the most threatened areas, in memphis, tennessee. tell us where you are and how serious of a situation are folks dealing with? >> reporter: suzanne, this is a riverfront park. it's completely under water. to illustrate how this flood is moving this spot where i am standing a little over a day ago was dry land. you can see how deep it is behind me. that lake behind me was a parking lot. if there were cars parked in it, the water would be up to the windows or higher.

officials have identified the houses and businesses that will be vulnerable as this floodwater continues to rise. it may come up about another two feet and crest on wednesday. they are going to those properties, finding the people who live and work there and letting them know today now is the time to pack up and plan to move because by the time the water gets to your front yard, like it has here, then it's going to be too late. but the city has a vast system of flood walls, levees, and they have been calling in volunteers to develop sandbags to place around important buildings just in case one of those levees might fail be to, prepared for anything that the flood might throw its way. granted, back in 1937 they had a flood that went four blocks into the city. with all the protection they have now, they're hoping to hold this massive historic flood at bay and keep the city relatively dry, except for those few low-lying areas, a couple thousand parcels of property

that they've identified. right now everyone watching and i can't tell you how many times i've heard that we have never seen the water this high. it's hard to look at just at any one place around here along the river to really grasp the enormity of what's happening here. you have to step back almost somewhere way up in the atmosphere and look down on the mississippi. this is absolutely a vast event. effecting everyone along the banks from the top of the mississippi down to the bottom. this is only beginning. we are looking at a crest here on wednesday that will be about two feet higher than it is now. then the places down below us are all expecting high watermarks to occur in the weeks to follow. >> are people heeding the warnings now? are people trapped in their homes? are they getting out of their homes? have they gone to shelters? >> no one is trapped. there are some situations around in the county where a road might

be cut off and people might not be able to get to their homes or from their homes. what we're seeing is that they have been very out in front of this flood. they have been watching it all the way. it's only moving -- inching its way up. nevertheless, it is coming up. they do have plenty of time. they identified where the trouble spots will be. they concentrated on those and are making sure everybody knows they have to get out of there. >> david, be safe. we'll watch that very closely. the unemployment rate jumps in april, but that's not the number that wall street is actually looking at today. we'll check with the cnn money team next. 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.

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focusing now on your money concerns. the latest cnn research corporation poll suggests that 82% of you feel the economy is in poor shape. 17% say the economy is somewhat good. only 1% say it is very good. that's pretty much the same way americans have answered since september of 2008. that with you on the eve of president obama's election. right now stocks are rallying big time, i understand. we want to go to allison cosnick. is the rally based on the jobs report? what do we know about this? >> it has everything to do with the jobs report it was a pleasant surprise, all week wall

street had been expecting a downbeat report because we got a few weak economic reports. the headline number was strong. 244,000 jobs added in april. that's why we're seeing the rally. the dow up 100 points. it is off its highs today. we are still in rally mode. we saw stocks pop immediately after the report came out, the futures came out. these gains are being held here it is good news even when you look at the fine print, it's strong. you look at the details of this report. wages are up. the number of people unemployed for six months, that number dropped. every sector added jobs except for government. talking about professional services like accounting positions, manufacturing positions added positions, leisure and hospitality. food services. those areas we saw job additions. this is a good report and wall street, can't find many holes in it at this point. >> so stocks are up. the economy added 244,000 jobs last month. the unemployment level rose to

9%. explain the disconnect. how do you square that? >> sure. because in this case, suzanne, it's not a sign of weakness to see the unemployment rate go from 8.8% to 9%. the fact is more people got back into the work force. there were a lot of people, and still are, people who have given up looking for work, they're not pounding the pavement. they're not counted at all in the unemployment rate. now confidence is coming back. people are getting back in the saddle and sending resumes out. they're counted in the work force, that's why the number is going up. it's not really a weak spot, it's a spot of hope. at some point the labor force has to grow. that's what we're seeing, at least with this situation when we see the unemployment rate go up. suzanne? >> thanks for bringing a bit of good news as we start our weekend. more of my exclusive interview with jimmy carter. the former president revealed a number of personal decisions that he made that quite frankly surprised us, including his own

decision in 2000 to separate his affiliation with the southern baptist convention. he said he and the former first lady did so because they were disturbed with the church's treatment of women. carter also weighed in on gay rights. >> can i ask you a question about your faith? >> of course. >> reporter: the role of southern baptist, you have openly -- openly you promoted same-sex marriage, the allowing gays to serve openly in the military. how do you square that with your faith? >> well, our church is a more modern church. i say there should be unlimited ability for same-sex couples to be married in a legal ceremony, not a surge ceremony. i think that decision should be up to each individual church

congregation. i do hope -- and they will expedite the end of don't ask don't tell and let gays serve equally. >> coming up, jimmy carter talks about the best years of his life and the legacy that he hopes to leave behind. ♪ [ male announcer ] in 2011, at&t is at work, 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.

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president carter was ahead of the curve when it came to social media. in 1977 he was part of a radio show called "president carter." during the broadcast he had 7 million callers clamoring to ask him questions.

we asked him what he's doing today. do you tweet? >> no, i don't tweet. >> would you consider it? >> i don't think so. i don't want to open myself up in private. it would take all my time to answer twitter questions. i stay on -- i spend a lot of my time now on the internet. >> do you surf or what do you speed your time doing? >> i write. i research on the internet. for instance, when i used to write a book -- i have written 26 books. it used to be when i wrote a book i had to check out maybe 50 books from the library at emory university or the university of georgia or something. >> sure. >> now i don't have to check out any books. i punch google and get the answer. it's a lot easier. >> it's a lot faster. >> and it makes my library more manageable. >> no longer has to check out books. we'll have more of my interview with president and how being out of the white house has given him the freedom to speak freely.

you've been sounding out on our talk-back question today. carol costello has the responses. >> quite a few responses. the talk-back question, does it matter if bin laden's killing was legal? scott says i don't believe there was a choice. if he had been captured or put on trial, bin laden would have been prime ransom demand. a potential rash of american kidnappings or as a means to end terrorist attacks against the united states, its allies and assets. and this one says as kids we are taught to lead by example. we should not become the beast but show we are better this from roger. where would we have put him before trial? how would you pick a fair jury? how would it feel to know we are housing and caring for the man responsible on the worst attack on american soil to date. this from rick. are you kidding me right now? of course it matters. saddam has millions of peoples blood on his hands.

how many soldiers died during the war? we didn't just shoot him. he was tried and hanged. >> and zakk says because of the actions of this madman, we have learned to suspect a culture, contradict our principles and embrace death in this regard, did bin laden ultimately win? continue the conversation, facebo facebook.co facebook.co facebook.com/c facebook.com/cnncarol. and i understand we are getting some amazing pictures from tennessee. >> this is pictures of a junkyard, all those cars are completely under water. completely useless junkyard. there it is. there are the pictures there. this is right there along the water. the water is still going to come up another four feet. all of these junk cars will be completely under water at this u pull it. and this is going to play out.

if you are not protected by the levee, your home will look like this. your yard, your field, your farm will look like this. all of the cities so far are protected. talking about memphis, the big cities are protected by levees, but not everybody lives inside those levees. if you live outside, you are in the floodplain. it may be a couple weeks before all this water ends up in the gulf of mexico, could be up to a month. >> thanks. one thing you may not know about president carter, he used to play softball and people came to watch him. >> we had a hard-fought softball competition every day. i pitched for my team. he pitched for his team. sometimes we had 5,000 people who came to watch us play. >> check it out. '80s video of the former president in shorts on the diamond. we will tell you what he had to say about his game.

time for the help desk. we want answers to your financial questions. gentlemen, glad you are here. our first question is from cindy in chula vista, california. i have an upside down mortgage. my mortgage loan is not owned by freddie mac or fannie may. is there any hope i can refinance in this condition? >> it's one out of four individuals going through this. if the appraisal price of her home is within 5% of her mortgage, it will be very hard for a lender to take on the risk. hopefully she can get a 1% reduction if they were to refinance. check out the fha, if they gives her a second mortgage to compensate for the price of her house and the loan she qualifies four, she can do that. and the fourth option is to wait

it out. hopefully the housing market increases soon and she might be able to get additional equity. >> the next question is from richard. he writes in i'm 59 years old, married and have about $75,000 in cash and about $100,000 in various 401(k) and ira accounts. my credit is excellent. my spouse and i are currently renting a house and are think being buying. at this stage in our lives should we buy or continue to rent? >> it depends on a few things. the classic. are you going stay in the property for a long period of time? you have to be in it three, four, five years. after that it depends on the market. depends on how much you're paying in rent, doing the calculation of how much homeownership will cost you. depending on the mortgage you're in, in some case renting makes sense, in some cases buying

makes sense. some people say i want to own my home. >> the psyche. >> and you got to value that somewhere along the way. >> thank you for the advice. if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail any time to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com. lovet to♪ e moy ♪ ♪ounow i ve it too soy ♪ndbrinity y ♪

former president jimmy carter loves to farm peanuts, paint oil portraits and go fly fishing and turkey hunting. he is most proud of what he accomplished in his 30 years outside of the white house through his humanitarian work. we spent about an hour with president carter in plains, georgia, where he said he felt free after his presidency to talk openly. >> as a non-politician i can go where i want, meet with whom i choose and say what i really believe. so that's pretty good element of freedom, right? >> that's a lot of freedom what

would you like to be remembered in terms of your legacy for your presidency? >> well, we always told the truth. we kept our country at peace. we've brought peace to other people around the world and we promoted human rights and never deviated from that commitment. those are some of the things of which i'm proud. something you may not have known, jimmy carter and his brother billy used to have competitive softball teams. they were pitchers on opposing teams. check out this video from 1980. this is carter wearing the vintage shorts. at one point the former president said he and his brother played before 5,000 fans. great video there. now, want you to meet a group of softball seniors from south florida. the youngest is 67. the oldest is 93, making them the boys of autumn. mike miller captured the story.

>> just started about 15 years ago, starting to get those 65 and older. so little by little, as we built up, we had enough men to make two teams. i was born december 19, 1917. i'm hanging in there. i feel all right. you know. he's afraid of me. i still can run a little bit. you know, hit once in a while. a lot of them ask me how i got this old. i tell them eat hot peppers. i eat hot peppers almost every day since i was a kid raised in connectic connecticut. >> would you do us a favor and take him out of here. >> they kid around with me and joke. i hope i mean something to them. >> tony is an inspiration.

we look at him and that gives us a challenge to continue to play. >> if you feel good, just don't sit in a rocking chair. get up and move around. got married september 13, 1947. 64 years married to the same woman. i don't know how long i'll keep going. who knows, maybe another year or two, if i feel like this. i don't feel good every day. get up with aches and pains, but you got to get up and get moving around. seven more years? >> yes. >> got to play until i'm 100 years old. >> we'll be watching for that. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with t.j. holmes. >> thank you very much. we need to start with what they are calling epic flooding. what we are seeing along the