corps is on their side. that they are not the criminal. in all of our cases we have felt we were the criminal and rape is always the responsibility of the perpetrator. the peace corps needs to change the culture so that victims know that the peace corps is on their side and that is crucial for the recovery of victims. it is a unique crime in that way. >> do you think the peace corps as we see it now based on your testimony and things you are aware of, needs a change in mind set, that the peace corps needs to have a mind-set different about when crime is committed against the peace corps volunteers somewhere in the country or somewhere in the world and rather than say don't say anything, we might hurt our diplomatic relationship with his third world country, do we need a much that in the peace corps change? >> the peace corps needs a change in mind set and a change in culture from victim blaming to supporting victims. we are fond of talking about the peace corps family and we need to act like a functional fam

of the peace corps. recently the immunization has started to subside. in 2002, the dayton daily news produced a seven part series entitled, casualties of peace. former dayton daily news editor, jeffrey pers stated quote, the extent of the safety problem has been disguised for decades, partly because they're thousands of miles away, partly because peace corps has made little effort to publicize them and partly because the agency delivery kept people from finding out while emphasizing the positive aspect of the peace corps, and quote. earlier this year, i'd shoot a 14th at abc television news program, 2020 expose the peace corps failures regarding the reporting of its assault and rape for many victims to come forward about the mishandling of their cases. according to dozens of disturbing affidavits by her committee, the peace corps is mishandling of rape and associates are for decades. several of the affidavits are from volunteers currently serving in the peace corps. the affidavits received by the committ

the peace corps must change. women must be better protected from this treatment that too often follows. by angela said that history, despite the pain, cannot be unlived, but faced with courage, need not be lived again. i am hopeful that the hearing today will precipitate the much needed change in the peace corps sexual assault policy and that my nightmare need not be lived again. thank you again for the opportunity to testify today and for bringing me -- for bringing these very important issues to light. >> thank you for your testimony. doctor? committee members, i am and associate professor at columbia university. >> can you put the microphone closer to your mouth so that we can hear you better? >> i am and associate director at columbia university. i teach about psychological trauma and my understanding for the topic are the results -- results of my education and my own experience with the peace corps. i joined the peace corps in 1991 and it was clear that my country was dangerous. also unclear was the peace co

but i've seen some effort on the corps' part since then to reach out. >> reporter: now the corps seemshow their work as the flood of 2011 moves south. this is flood water from the mississippi river and one of its tributaries, the yazoo river eecd in the coming o river days to overflow this levee. what the army corps of engineers has been doing is laying nearly four miles of this polyurethane sheeting on what was the dry side of this levee. the idea is it will help prevent erosion from damaging farmland on the other side. working to save farms here, forms there gone and more tough choices to come. casey wian, cnn, vicksburg, mississippi. >>> fighting floods is only part of the corps emission. up next, see what else it does and why it's battling congress. water. u.s. army corps of engineers is front and center when flooding strikes. that's only part of its mission. casey why nan reports it's having to do it all with less. >> reporter: for years this is how the army corps of engineers researched the impacts of flooding in the mississippi river delta, models built to scale to see what woul

>> none of those individuals are with the peace corps anymore. >> are they no longer in the peace corps because of this, or if they just for other recent? >> they are no longer in the peace corps because of the. >> they are no longer in the peace corps because of this. suppose that a volunteer would send a communication or, and somehow communicate to a peace corps official about a problem that that volunteer is entering and asking for anonymity, how with the peace corps protect that volunteer today? what has changed the? today, there's a protocol in place, our policy in place that mandates that any allegation by a volunteer or a trainee that is made in confidence be kept in confidence, held in the closest discretion by peace corps staff receiving that allegation. the volunteer of the training is also advise if they can, come to the ig and actually encouraged to come to the ig since we had confidential allegations all the time and actually have a statutory mandate to keep our allegations confidential. >> thank you. and understanding a difficult it is to get the prosecutions in foreign co

today before congress -- >> i'm a former peace corps volunteer and a peace corps rape survivor. >> reporter: -- their hearts were heavy. chilling accounts of rape, beating, and mistreatment while overseas in the peace corps. jessica smochik volunteered in bangladesh in 2004. she says she reported to peace corps officials there and in washington that local men terrorized her. they were not prosecuted. >> the men dragged me into an abandoned courtyard, and the violence began. they started by raping me, and they forced other objects inside of my body. >> reporter: carol clark served in nepal in the late '80s and reported being repeatedly raped by a supervisor from nepal who was never charged. >> for the next 15 hours, he raped and beat me. for a long time, i prayed to live, and after that, i prayed to die. >> reporter: catherine's daughter, kate, a peace corps volunteer, was killed in west africa. >> kate was the heart of our family. and our lives have been shattered. >> reporter: in 2009, kate reported sexual assault to a local peace corps official who tipped off the suspect. >> within a few

we are paying about 60% of the budget of the marine corps. this is about 60%. 25% ghost operations and maintenance. i am down below 20%, for the new equipment. and to put the money out for research and development. the personnel peace that the bill has to become, this is a sensitive topic. and this is another place of friction. we do this when we have these forces engaged, and we ask a lot of them. and this is a volunteer force. this is a balance and we do not know -- we are taking a look at the entitlements, but i think we ought to look at this. what did i sign up for and what was this when i joined. when you enter this arena, it is time for a healthy looked at where all the money is going. this is increasing. the entitlements are increasing as well as the personnel costs. there was a person who testified in march or april about this, and we supported the idea of adding this $5 -- $5 per month addition to the cost. this was not for people who were truly retired. if you spent 20 years in the marine corps -- all that we asked was to raise the

i'm a former peace corps volunteer and a peace corps rape survivor. >> jessica smochek a 23-year-old college graduate who wanted to dedicate her life to helping others. she joined the peace corps and was sent to bangladesh. three months later, a group of men attacked her. >> they surrounded me, grabbed me, knocked me to the ground, and began touching and kissing me. >> reporter: jessica complained to peace corps staff. she asked for mace or pepper spray or to be relocated. then she was attacked again. >> they started by raping me, and they forced other objects inside of my body. they yelled insults and threatened to kill me. i began to think it would never end, and so i beg them for the death they promised. they just laughed. >> reporter: her story isn't unique. >> for the next 15 hours, he raped and beat me. >> reporter: the peace corps has more than 8,000 volunteers and trainees working in 77 countries, primarily idealistic young people serving in impoverished areas, but peace corps workers say they aren't prepared for the risks in those countries and that even the training videos

joined by an icon of television journalism his resume includes being a founding organizer of the peace corps a press secretary for president lyndon johnson decades of reporting for both print and television outlets the most famous project was bill moyers journal weekly television show that was one of the highest rated public affairs programs around public television in two thousand and seven to two thousand and ten as many as two million viewers tuned in to hear what he had to say every single week and his accomplishments have not gone unnoticed as a recipient of more than thirty emmy awards and nine peabody awards as well as a slew of other arms and this month he released his latest book bill moyers journal the conversation continues. you can when he has something to say listen that's why i am honored to be joined from new york tonight by none other than bill moyers bill welcome. thank you my pleasure can imagine being anywhere else right now. that's very kind of you you're one of those rare people who have impacted both media and politics it's a remarkable life that you've lived an accompl

and the budget of the peace corps has been consistently cut because it doesn't have the r.-a that it once did i've seen a lot of peace corps volunteers in the last few years they still are doing a terrific job out there are very preserving the essential american values of friendship and openness and collaboration so it's still there thank goodness it hasn't disappeared even though there are far fewer volunteers than they were even twenty years ago but we moving a little farther into the sixty's you were lyndon johnson's press secretary is from sixty five to sixty seven in the white house and if the reports that i've read are correct in october of sixty seven you told noddy and some cambridge the lyndon johnson saw the war in vietnam as his major legacy and as a result was insisting on victory at all costs even in the face of public opposition in your opinion is president obama now doing the same thing in afghanistan. well i think he's made the same mistake that in the johnson made in thinking that by escalating the number of troops he could find a he could ultimately triump

that is what the marine corps does for our nation. we are that hedge against that risk that we might not be able to have everything we want and everything we would like it to to do. those elements of risk, is there a way to mitigate this? >> i would like to ask you about the main modernization efforts. of course, we know that these are an ongoing major concern. one of your first acts as commandant was to cancel the expeditionary vehicle. and you have a big burden in shepherding the -- you have an even mix and people who know what about this and people who are more generalist. maybe once i posed the question, if you can explain how that will fit into your strategy. then there is the tilt rotor aircraft doing so well in afghanistan and i know that you have been pleased. am i correct in asking about these three in a sense that not the only important marine corps items but what gives the marine corps it's unique capability to and characteristics and the three systems that are at the center of your concern as commandant. how do you see the

the army corps says very dire things. dallas, texas, they said that the levees along the trinity river will built on sand. many cities that are supported by the levees are informed of their not what they thought there would be. tavis: there is nothing that rankles politicians like getting bad press. what is happening in the state of louisiana, specifically in new orleans going out to the press that might not have been generated by the revelations? >> the press covered this. most of this, the two major investigations looking backward at the flooding at the time. that is where we all learned about it. people were plenty rankled. the congress gave jurisdiction over the hurricane protection system of new orleans to the army corps of engineers. the locals can scream and year -- and yelled but the new orleans delegation is not have uphold what it once did. they don't have the clout to get up on their hind legs and make a noise like they're trying to do. and the film, we have a wonderful sequence where david fitter does a wonder

it's a tradeoff and in this case at the floodway that was opened up by the corps, that the corps was directed to buy flooding easements for that land in the late '20s so when the river did get this high then part of the plan was to open that levee across the river and relieve the pressure on the levels at cairo, illinois. >> brown: and how much leeway is there for officials? or how much of this is built in... into guidelines or is it always a question of making a decision each time? >> well, pretty much the corps has to make that decision. it's in the plan. it's in the operational plan. when the river gets to a certain stage, they know it threatens the levees on one side of the river and therefore they're directed to open it on the other side. the same thing is true as john talked about as we get down by new orleans on the other bypass as morganza and so on. at a certain stage the plan is set up to say when the river reach this is stage, provide those relieve valves. >> brown: and mr. barry there is criticism. there's probably always criticism of these decisions. does that go back to

she said she got little support from peace corps officials. >> the peace corps also required me to meet with a counselor who made me write down everything i had done wrong for this to occur. as examples she suggested that i had been out after 5:00 pm, i hadn't screamed, and that i didn't fight back. rather than feeling safe and supported, i felt belittled and blamed. >> sreenivasan: at least one former volunteer said she was raped by her own supervisor, in nepal. peace corps director aaron williams apologized, and promised reforms. >> we're going to make sure that it's a victim-centered approach. we're going to be compassionate. all of our medical personnel have been trained in how to work with victims of sexual assault. we are all going to make sure that all of our staff, our senior management, is focused on this. we are committed to making this, changing the culture that these courageous people have encountered in the past. we're going to change that. the peace corps is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. it has more than 8,600 volunteers working in 77 countries. the u.s. navy

peace corps on capitol hill.ganization made their plight even worse. ♪ hey, dad, think i could drive? i'll tell you what -- when we stop to fill it up. ♪ they say the organization made [ son ] you realize, it's gotta run out sometime. ♪ itchy, irritated skin... [ son ] you realize, it's gotta run out sometime. not only does cortaid 12-hour advanced cream relieve itch fast, but a clinical study shows its unique itch shield technology lasts longer than the leading cream. for 12 hour protection. for long lasting protection try cortaid. our superb school system on a chart. but how do you chart... happiness? we can show our diverse culture on a graph. but how do you graph... experiences? we can diagram the business reasons for your company to be here. but what kind of diagram do you use... for imagination? fairfax county, virginia, is the ideal business location. and the ideal life location. >>> the peace corps is known for exporting american altruism and volunteerism around the world on projects. but on capitol hill

but the army corps knew that.n fact, they put down sheeting, they put down plastic sheeting on top of the levees so that when the water did go over the top of the levee, it didn't wash away, didn't erode all the dirt. they said we're going to lose a half a foot of water, it's going to eventually come back down, and we don't want to lose the infire levee. let's cover it up and not have a washout. that's already happening. and we knew that general honore has talked significantly about some of the boils. and it looks like boiling water. because it literally is coming in from the river under the levee, and then it boils up like a boiling pot of water on the other side, the dry side, which you don't want. and they're putting sand bags around it. all these things so far, the catastrophic events, have been savable. there's nothing so far that we have seen that can't be fixed. now that's not saying -- the problem is that this isn't going to go down for weeks, don. i know we're talking about the pressure that we're seeing

there's a lot of anger toward the corps. further, is it tough to square the fact that others will suffer to spare new orleans, really? >> well, those are two separate questions. let me answer. first, the levees in question are not the ones that were breached by katrina. the levees in question now are the ones that have been buttressed for 50, 60, 70 years on the mississippi river, the are much, much stronger and the corps has much more confidence in. so they're two separate levee systems. secondly, no, it doesn't make us feel good that protecting new orleans, other people are going to be hurt. we understand that better than anybody, being under water for 14 days. our heart goes out to them. i reached out to the mayor of mogen city, to the president of the parish, and the governor saying let us know what we can do so we can be in the fight with you. >> we may come down and see you there before this is all over. thank you for your time tonight. >> love to see you. >> thank you, mr. mayor. >>> it's not just people who are suffe

i've been in the marine corps 51 years. i am probably more concerned now than i ever have been before. i think that is probably the -- the service chiefs, all of us, this is this has caught our attention. it probably is exacerbated because we are at war. we have 20,000 marines on the ground in afghanistan and 12,000 deployed in ships around the world. the army significantly more and the navy has a bunch and the air force. we have this friction that is building. we are currently fairly heavily engaged in some pretty important parts of the world. and division, though, is the budget is going to go down. so it has caught our attention and so it doesn't surprised anyway the secretary's last public address or major speech, we talked about that. we're looking now among ourselves how can we be more efficient and frugele. we're returning the marine corps back to its frugal roots. part of that, show, you can't just come from programs. in other words you can't just say ok, we're just going to cancel all of these programs because five

after they were sexually assaulted they were verbally abused by peace corps supervisors. carol endured a 15-hour ordeal. >> for a long time, i prayed to live and after that i prayed to die. >> a peace corps assigned me to a counselor that made me write down everything that i did wrong. >> they say the policy is not to blame volunteers but the agency's current training videos seem to do that with victims appearing on camera to describe what they supposedly had done wrong to bring on their attacker. >> next story is about somebody really weird. they are looking for a man that yanks down the pants of female joggers. most of those crimes took place in residential areas near patterson pass and mines road. the description of attacker varies. they were not sexually assaulted but they are advising women in the area please be aware of their surroundings. >> many commuters are expressing their discontent of the express lane on 680. it opened last fall. the toll varies depending on time of day. numbers show morning commuters in express lane only save one minute on the 14-mile stretc

after they were sexually assaulted they were verbally abused by peace corps supervisors.arol endured a 15-hour ordeal. >> for a long time, i prayed to live and after that i prayed to die. >> a peace corps assigned me to a counselor that made me write down everything that i did wrong. >> they say the policy is not to blame volunteers but the agency's current training videos seem to do that with victims appearing on camera to describe what they supposedly had done wrong to bring on their attacker. >> next story is about somebody really weird. they are looking for a man that yanks down the pants of female joggers. most of those crimes took place in residential areas near patterson pass and mines road. the description of attacker varies. they were not sexually assaulted but they are advising women in the area please be aware of their surroundings. >> many commuters are expressing their discontent of the express lane on 680. it opened last fall. the toll varies depending on time of day. numbers show morning commuters in express lane only save one minute on the 14-mile stretch.

i am a resident and a student, and i work in treasure island job corps. i strongly agree with -- i strongly support this project, but after completing my training in job corps, i could hopefully get a job there. for long term. and after the short term, live there and worked in an easy job. thank you. >> good afternoon. i am also a student, living on the island right now. if you open up the housing and bill all the stores, it would really help. it would help us as the trainees go up and work on the project up on the island and get further into our training. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am here representing the alliance for jobs and sustainable growth. we are an organization made up of labor, business, and community groups, and we are 100% behind this project. we were happy to be part of the press conference this morning, and we're grateful babbitt batboy that affordable housing will be increased because we think that is very important as well. this project will have jobs well into the future. maybe for 10 years for people in san francisco,

to speak with the peace corps staff investigator, who said, i'm so sick of you girls going over there, drinking, dancing, flirting. and if a guy comes on to you, you say you were raped. >> a counselor had me write down everything i had done wrong. >> the head of the piece corps has apologized and has admitted that the corps has not always been responsive or compassionate to the victims or their families. >>> billy graham is in a hospital this morning recovering from a bout of pneumonia. doctors are treating him with antibiotics. but they say he is fully alert, in good spirits and signed his own hospital admission papers. >>> they have an update on the latest runaway from the bronx zoo, the peacock, which is actually a pea hen because she is a girl. she was corralled and brought back to the zoo, where the vet says she seems to be fine. but this guy working at an auto glass business. he looked out and saw the peacock in traffic. >>> let's take a look at your weather from around the country this morning. another stormy day from texas to iowa. hail, gusty winds and rain in des moines, st.

today, i talked to the colonel, head of the army corps of engineers, in charge of all of this. he told us these levees will hold but the power of the mississippi is awesome. what is the immensity of the force coming at them? >> as we're sitting here looking at the mississippi, in one second, we're seeing approximately 2 million cubic feet per second go through the mississippi right now. if i took just one second of flow, that would fill a football field 40 feet high. >> and now let's go straight down the river to jim avila. he is there where the water is at this moment pounding those levees tonight. jim. >> reporter: diane, this 15-foot high floodwall, mighty mississippi right behind it, was built just after the double whammy of floods in 1927 and 1937. and despite the ominous leak here, the army corps of engineers says the levee system is holding. this is the biggest threat to the massive levee system protecting memphis. ground zero for the army corps of engineers. >> this is a sand boil. >> reporter: a sand boil, a fountain of bubbling water on the dry side of the levee. a da

you're in the corps. you've dealt with the frustrations with the corps in the state of louisiana in the past, this time things seem to be working right. >> it was taken from the 1973 concept. the local levee district came up with us. we took a look at it. we were able to permit it and working with the districts and a joint project to get that done out there. it is going very fast. we expect to get that in place in time to be able to help. >> you've will the time to warn people to get out of their communities. a sense now that it will be better than you thought a couple days ago. it is not rising as fast. or do you still have concerns, that it could be worse? >> we're going through a slow opening of the spillway so that the water is making its way downstream. like you touched on the drought condition. so a lot of the overgrowth in the spillway since we last operated it. but other than that, we think that -- i lost it on that one, sorry. >> a busy man. easy to lose your thoughts when you're juggling so many

corps capabilities? >> if there is an effort underway to change the acquisition program to lump things under capabilities, i am not aware of that. i am not saying it is a bad idea but i have not put any thought to it. i was talking earlier about how we take what we have and make it better. i was not necessarily lumping it under capabilities. i cannot answer that. i heard u-class and i think you are talking up the navy's carrier variant. i think that is a tremendous effort. we go back to the uas question we had earlier. there is an example of taking technology and actually bring it aboard, something like eight nimitz class carrier. that is pretty significant. we have to see how it will turn out but we are optimistic. i don't know of any effort right now. we're trying to pull all live under different sets of capabilities and the acquisition. >> one last question. over here, yes, please. >> i am from the university of edinburgh. i want to talk about the budget difficulties. you had an emphasis on strategy f

-- corps is spending?st: right now we of spent around 30 million for all of the flood of flight issues. but the amount of work is yet to come. we need to look at what needs to be restored and how do we do that? we will have to look and see what makes sense. what type of work we need to do next. right now we need to finish dealing with the flood fights. caller: as you know, as a native of new orleans we constantly look at all of these kinds of events through the prism of katrina. i myself had 10 feet of water in my house. i have been able to get my house back, but there is a great fear, and that has not even begun to press it is the lady that is present. be hurricanes, now it is water. certainly the other areas, i think many of here selfishly are not greatly concerned that this kind of decision is the sooner rather than later, and that this is really not a political matter, but a matter that affects all of us as people, and we hope there would certainly be a greater level of corp. this time than there was w

it's senior leadership of the marine corps.i mean the very senior leadership of the marine corps sitting across the table with the engineers and systems engineers folks, taking lessons learned from efv and going, okay, what are the trades so we know now we can actually build a vehicle. we've got some idea, reasonably, well how quick, how much it's going to cost. the other thing i'd say is that we have to accelerate production of these test articles and get, you know how long it took the sr-71 blackbird from the time it was, yeah, from the time it was being drawn on graph paper, to the time it first flew? i think it was 18 months. 18 months. that was in the '60s. this is 20 levin. you're going to tell me, here's what the acquisition guys said. when we were going to cancel the efv, they came to one of my premier three-stars who kind of manages this is effort for me and they said, okay, we're going to go for an alternative vehicle, general amos. i said, that's exactly right. it will be 2024 before it will do initial operational ca

we are paying about 60% of the budget of the marine corps. this is about 60%. 25% ghost operations and maintenance. i am down below 20%, for the new equipment. and to put the money out for research and development. the personnel peace that the bill has to become, this is a sensitive topic. and this is another place of friction. we do this when we have these forces engaged, and we ask a lot of them. and this is a volunteer force. this is a balance and we do not know -- we are taking a look at the entitlements, but i think we ought to look at this. what did i sign up for and what was this when i joined. when you enter this arena, it is time for a healthy looked at where all the money is going. this is increasing. the entitlements are increasing as well as the personnel costs. there was a person who testified in march or april about this, and we supported the idea of adding this $5 -- $5 per month addition to the cost. this was not for people who were truly retired. if you spent 20 years in the marine corps -- all that we asked was to raise the

victims testified that the peace corps has paid little attention to the problems. one mother said her daughter was killed in africa and there was also testimony that the peace corps ignored or dismissed reports of violence and rape. >>> cisco systems announced today it will illuminate thousands of jobs. cisco is the largest maker of computer networking gear. today they reported a net income drop of 18% in the next quarter. they want to cut annual expenses by $1 billion so that could be as many as 5000 jobs. >>> gasoline prices took a big hit today. the energy information administration says demand suffered its largest drop in seven straight weeks of decline. gas futures fell 8%. gas now averages just under $4 a gallon nationally. >>> falling commodity prices weighed on wall street. the nasdaq fell by 26. >>> google announced its first notebook computers running their chrome operating system will go on sale next month. they say the net books will cost between $350 and $500. >>> a battle is brewing with aspca and the complaint centers around high-profile fund- raisin

army corp.s destroyed the levy in the same ways they are doing now, and we see what happen with that when they pick winners and losers, i don't support that. it's malicious on the people that would be getting the short end of the stick. that's my first comment, and my second comment is i permly think that this is the hand of god at work. i mean, we're having record floods. look at the tornado that went through alabama. i mean, you know, this is -- this is ridiculous. i think people need to look at that. >> host: all right. what about the decision to blow up levies? there was resistance in missouri when you blew up a levy last monday. what goes into that decision and why do you do it? >> guest: it's so hard to make decisions like that, and that is a floodway we actually built in the early 1930s and had sections of the levy designed if we had to, to be removed. there's piping through the levies where we pumped liquid explosives in to remove those sections of the levy. we have purchased eastman's f

this time verbally by peace corps supervisors.fessor now specializes in helping victims. >> i was then sent to speak with a peace corps staff investigator who said, i am so sick of you girls going over there drinking, dancing and flirting and then if a guy comes on to you, you say you've been rape. >> a peace corps also required me to meet with a counselor for me to write down everything that i had done wrong. >> reporter: she says after her daughter blew the whistle on one rapist he was alerted to her complaint and murdered her. >> the way that kate's e-mail was handled ultimately led to her death. >> reporter: the peace corps says it's not its policy to blame volunteers but agency's current training video seems to do just that, with victims appearing on camera to describe what they had supposedly had done wrong to bring on their attackers. >> looking back there are certainly other ways that i could have -- other choices that i could have made. >> reporter: many say they thought the problem had been solved decades ago but came fo

no documentation. >> right now, it's the army corpes of engineers making news. admitting responsibility after six decades, saying we are deeply ashamed and regretful to find this word in our records. our hearts tell us these grave markers should be replaced. the grave markers are no longer their responsibility. instead, responsibility lies with eldorado county and they have no time line on when the n word will be removed. >> i would be willing to die for something like this. i would be willing to die if they move any one of them. >> because ralph white, justice delayed is justice denied. in eldorado hills, robert lyles, cbs 5. >>> at ground zero in new york today, his name was never mentioned, not once, but chip reid shows us everyone knew what president obama meant when he said justice has been done. >> we think we will never forget, we mean what we say. >> this is not just any fire house. the home of engine 54 lost 15 men when the twin towers fell. an entire shift, more than any other new york fire house. a bronze plaque honors their sacrifice, including 28 ch

the decision to blast a two-mile hole in the levee now rests with the army corps of engineers. and our susan candiotti joins us now. susan, what does this mean? >> reporter: well, it means that if, in fact, they move forward with the plan to blow up this levee, then there's going to be a lot of land flooded, as was expected, in an area of missouri here. it's an area where the ohio and the mississippi river comes to a confluence. so at this hour tonight, i can tell you that the governor of missouri was not expecting that the supreme court would give him a favorable decision to hold off on plans to move forward blowing this levee up. because he says at this point we know that the u.s. army corps of engineers is moving forward with plans to pull off this plan even though they haven't said for sure that they're going to do it. but he said he wants to make sure that everyone has evacuated the farmland in question, in particular, to make sure that no one gets back in, and to make sure that they're ready, that this is going to happen, to make that plan go forward. and so at this hour,

the professor says, since leaving the peace corps has earned her ph.d. and is now a leading specialist on treating victims of trauma. the director of the peace corps, aaron williams, who has refused to talk to abc news will have a lot to answer before in his appearance before congress later today. and he is expected to announce that the training tape that blames the victims, will no longer be used. robin? >> that is good to hear. >>> we turn to josh elliott for the other stories developing this morning. >> good morning, to all of you. the flooded mississippi river, rolling south, now. the economic toll, meanwhile, is becoming clear, as oil prices could surge higher because of damage to refineries. while farmers in arkansas, the top rice-producing state in the country, are expecting $500 million in losses. and 15 of mississippi's 19 riverside casinos, employing thousands, are flooded. this historic flood, though, hardly over as people downstream from memphis are bracing for the worst, with the river not expected to crest until may 24th in new orleans. our

army corps of engineers is them coming up with a solution to help everybody in the long run. and they said they have a big team of experts trying to work this out. >> every hour we are in communications with the hydraulics folks, the national weather service, hundreds of engineers and scientists are together working exactly for the answer to that. how long can we hold? when will the water get here? and what will be the impacts? >> caller: now the u.s. army corps of engineers tonight also has begun to move barges in place that will eventually be filled with explosives along various points, about two miles along this levee. they have not done the loaning of the explosives yet, don, but they are moving barges into place and are monitoring this very closely. no decision has been made yet about when and whether they will blow this levee up. don? >> susan candiotti, thank you very much. >>> we took you live to smithville, mississippi, a couple minutes ago. a community wiped off the map by the deadly tornadoes this week. ahead this hour, we'll take you live to tuscaloosa, alabama. b

we continue to ask the corps for five days notice for at least three days to let sheriffs enough time. >> across the sout and lower midwest, about three million farmland are covered in water. in arkansas the estimated damage to the state's ago debris kill to your could top half a billion dollars. >> ron paul has officially announced that he is running for president next year. he made the announcement on "good morning america." he first made a presidential run in 1988. in 2008 he made an unsuccessful bid for gop nomination but he is an internet sensation and drew support of thousands. >>> 50,000 potential u.s. immigrants are getting disappointing news today. the u.s. state department says it is voiding the result of a worldwide lottery for u.s. immigration visas because of a computer glitch. a state department official says it caused the drawing to selected 90% of winners from entries submitted on the first two days after the 30 day registration period. nearly 15 million people entered that lottery. 50,000 are selected to apply for immigrant visas without needing a u.s. sponsor. a new

the army corps of engineers decided to blow a hole in a levee in cairo, illinois on monday night t has helped save flood-prone towns. the streets in cairo, illinois are dry. the water level has dropped substantially since the breach and they're grateful for the army corps' decision gentleman i know we're not the richest town in the world but what we have here is ours and we don't want to lose it. >> reporter: but while saving them, more than 130,000 acres of missouri farmland got the water instead. many farmers were out surveying their soaked acreage the day after the explosion. >> the farm is all i ever have done and it is under water. i really don't know. >> reporter: back on this farm, they are vowing to persevere. >> all we can do is let the water go down and work with what is left. >> reporter: the army corps of engineers is planning more blasts for today. a group of about 25 farmers have sued the federal government arguing that their land has been taken without adequate compensation. in los angeles, casey steigel, fox news. >>> history on the baseball diamond last night. the seas

it's a decision the army corps could make as early as tomorrow in order to save the bigger cities of new orleans and baton rouge downriver. >> i know it's necessary that they do what they got to do but still i guess in a way i am a little angry. >> reporter: we're circling over the floodgates right now. there are 125 individual gates. if and when the army corps of engineers decides to open them, water will spill from there and on to the farmland. leaving a devastating footprint. flooding a swath of land 100 miles long, displacing 2,500 people. but if the gates stay closed, levees along the mississippi may not be able to take the pressure, leading to breaches and failures that in the worst case would flood both baton rouge and new orleans. leaving a disaster worst than katrina. adam bodan lives below the spillway. >> that's what they tell us, take whatever you want out because it probably will not be there when you come back. >> reporter: louisiana governor jindal took abc news up to look at the morganza spillway, nearly filled to the brim and about to be unleashed on some of his citi

we continue to ask the corps for five days notice for at least three days to let sheriffs enough time. >> across the south and lower midwest, about three million farmland are covered in water. in arkansas the estimated damage to the state's ago debris kill to your could top half a billion dollars. >> ron paul has officially announced that he is running for president next year. he made the announcement on "good morning america." he first made a presidential run in 1988. in 2008 he made an unsuccessful bid for gop nomination but he is an internet sensation and drew support of thousands. >>> 50,000 potential u.s. immigrants are getting disappointing news today. the u.s. state department says it is voiding the result of a worldwide lottery for u.s. immigration visas because of a computer glitch. a state department official says it caused the drawing to selected 90% of winners from entries submitted on the first two days after the 30 day registration period. nearly 15 million people entered that lottery. 50,000 are selected to apply for immigrant visas without needing a u.s. sponsor. a new

so i used to say that when mexico have had 32 police corps with new commanders and with new institutions when mexico have 32 attorney general offices in the states of the union, we will be a very different country in terms of security, and that is the most important challenge. and the opportunities. >> charlie: do you have enough time to do that? you have six years. >> yes. >> charlie: as president. >> it's not enough time, when you try to rebuild a nation like mexico, but as the people say, very long journey start with one step and we are making the first steps in order to do so, and we are making very strong work. actually, for instance, one of the legacies of my administration will be renewed federal police. for instance, we are recruiting young people -- professionals, graduated people. we are vetting them and we are allocating them in the intelligence office of the federal police so the police corps will be one part of the legacy and, of course, we are trying to do the same in the attorney general's office, and for that we have time. in order to renovate the states, it takes more ti

the army corps of engineers blew up to save cairo, illinois. me is kevin maynard, a farmer forced to evacuate so his land could be flooded to save another town. mr. mayor, thanks for joining us. i guess you were on the wrong end of this decision, which the army corps of engineers felt they had to make. >> well, drew, it certainly was a devastating decision that they laid for our county and our community, and several farmers in the spillway here in mississippi county. >> i mean, is it the wrong decision to have been made? did you see any other option, based on what you -- what you 4% all have down there, which is just too much water? >> well, during what -- we encouraged the corps to let the levee naturally over top. we felt like there would be less permanent destruction, you know the corps promoted they would get a 4 to 5 foot drop at the cairo gauge. and that has not occurred since 10:00 last night when they actually activated the spillway. they've only got 1 foot and 2/10 of a drop. so the plan is not working. and that's what we told them all