i had a conversation earlier today with governor bobby jindal.emember him around the country probably. even if you don't pay much attention to louisiana because of his high profile role after the bp oil spill. another disaster striking the state of louisiana. after an exclusive aerial tour we had a conversation with governor jindal about the big challenges just ahead. i'll start, governor by asking your sense of the economic impact of this on your state. >> this will have a tremendous economic impact on a number of different sectors and communities. for example, farmers alone, no good numbers yet, but it will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars of damage. i did a study based on the acreage of flooding in '73, the last time they opened the spillway. those same acres in place there would be $300 million in damage. they're still refining those numbers. you look at the structures that are in harm's way. you look at the fact that you've got chemical plants, refineries, ports, five of the nation's largest ports, 11 of the nation's refineries impa

cnn's john king visited the affected area with governor bobby jindal earlier today.in morgan city, louisiana. >> reporter: john, you saw the devastation from the helicopter today, describe it for us, how ugly was it? >> reporter: eliot, it is just remarkable. and extraordinary what the state of louisiana, in conjunction with the federal government are trying to do. yes, some homes have been sacrificed but what they're trying to do is protect other communities like where i am in morgan city. you see behind me, that's supposed to be a wharf. you should be able to walk down there. instead, four feet of water, and the water is continuing to rise, as we saw with the exclusive tour with governor jindal, we've flown over the morganza pi spillway. as many as 15,000 homes could be buried, washed away, as they flood those communities. we flew over the morganza spillway, eliot. you could see the water going into the farmlands, rising very slowly. you can see the homes there or communities that will be flooded are still dry, maybe a foot of water. within the next several days, w

louisiana governor bobby jindle warned today that -- jindal warned today that while the water is moving more slowly than expected, it's still coming -- coming. >>> two more ships were removed from the susan bay today. the two ships are being towed to san francisco. they will be klineed and painted before they head south -- cleaned and painted before any head south. there are 30 ships left in the fleet and two more will be relieved by next -- removed next week and by 2017 all them should be gone. >>> outside your door, you might be thinking those look like rain clouds. they are, beginning to thicken up, darken and even a few light sprinkles reported. the low centered right here will shift. a little bit of moisture popping up on the radar. this is the embarcadero, san francisco, brown to belmont feeling sprinks -- san francisco, down to belmont feeling sprinkles. san francisco has been reporting a little bit of rain in the last half-hour or so. this rain is just on its way in. let me show you what we can expect through the afternoon. at 3:00 or so, already beginning to slide in. the 5:00

yet governor jindal warned the record water levels could last for more than a month and urged people not to get complaisant. more than 4,800 people displaced by the flooding in mississippi. here in louisiana, 4,000 people evacuated so far. most of them, like these neighbors right here, not sure what will be here if and when they're able to return. it is something to watch. the mississippi is methodical but powerful. take a look at these pictures. the swollen river and the steady current as it approaches not just mississippi. on the left of the screen is louisiana. on the right is natchez. mostly built up on the hills. some low lying homes are being wiped out. and look at this. is this a schoolyard? not exactly. this is a recreation area for members of the united states coast guard. this is their station in mississippi. normally this is a parking lot. across the river we arrive this morning to find a red hot mayor. he just reached the barriers around his town's river front convention center. the coast guard refused to stop the barge traffic that kicks up big waves and brings up more w

louisiana governor bobby jindal urged people not to wait. >> now is the time to review your plans. if you are in the northern part of the spillway, the water is only a couple of days away, at most. the southern part of the spillway, you've got a couple of additional days after that. it's not going to come all at once. >> sreenivasan: across the river, mississippi governor haley barbour has a lake house near vicksburg that's already been flooded. he had advice today for his people. >> get your property out as early as you can-- furniture, appliances. to the degree you can literally remove those from the area that might be flooded, do it! if you hadn't done it now, hurry up because you may be too late. secondly, elevate things that can be elevated. third, tie down things that float. >> sreenivasan: both barbour and jindal said the mainline levees along the mississippi are holding and will likely not be breached. wall street was hit with new worries today about debt problems in europe. the dow jones industrial average lost 100 points to close at 12,595. the nasdaq fell 34 points to cl

even so, governor jindal is urging people who live in the spillway area to activate their evacuation plans now. brian. >> all i know is that water behind you is moving really fast. anne thompson starting us off in baton rouge, thanks. >>> now to the situation in new orleans down river from baton rouge. one of our viewers in that city where they have been through so much e-mailed us today, quote, very few of us give any credence to the promises that the city will remain unscathed. though mayor mitch landrieu said there won't be water in new orleans, he's been kind enough to join us from his beloved city of new orleans tonight. mr. mayor, we should point out nobody wants a drop of water in that city, and we wish we could wish you sunny skies and no potholes for the next 100 years, buwhat makes you so sure? >> we have been working with the corps of engineers. the levees that protect the mississippi are some of the strongest levees we have. the corps has been out every day almost every second of the day monitoring the levees. the morganza spillway was an important component for us. it's

we heard from bobby jindal. we flew right over that.illway today. 11 bays were open. 11 different base. why are they doing that? they're altering the flow of the water sending it into the low lying communities. a lot of farm land is under water and 15,000 homes eventually could be under water. they're hoping it won't be that many. but they're sacrificing the small low lying communities. down to baton rouge, further south to new orleans. as you fly over you see the water slowly coming up. not quite as quickly as officials thought it would rise. but there's ab drought ahead of this flood. so water the seeping in. as the spillway sends the water one way, they're worried about back floods in some communities. improvising is part of this effort. they took a barge and sunk it down into the water. they're pouring in rock, pouring in steel essentially making a makeshift dam to keep the water from coming up in other populated communities. use the dam to divert it into marshland and to protect communities with tens of thousands. governor jindal h

louisiana governor, bobby jindal, took a look at the louisiana spillway, nearly filled to the prim.t his call. but he's heard the anger. >> all of the emotion, that energy, get ready for this storm. get ready. move their property out of harm's way. >> reporter: which is why in central louisiana, it's moving day. jim avila, abc news, morgan city, louisiana. >>> and residents who lose their land will not get reimbursed since the government owns the right to flood at any time. >>> and a sailboat crew is breathing a sigh of relief after a terrifying encounter over the coast of oregon. the boat, "l'orca," when a 20-foot whale took a leap out of the water. >> a while looked to be a humpback whale about 30 feet in length, roughly. hit the mast, about half-way to three-quarters of the way up. and proceeded to fall forward and on the star board side of the boat. >> the whale left this blubber onboard. thanksfully, the crew there was not injured. >>> luc >> lucky guys. >>> in the sports world, new doubts about tiger woods and golf. he rawed from the players championship, after playing nine ho

governor gin dahl made no -- jindal made no announcements but his parents remember jim grants from india. the birth certificate was released so that there were no questions in that aftermath of a bill introduced by senator ritter. that would -- whose parents were not citizens and legal residents -- residents of the united states. >>> what is facebook doing to your life? a guy in philadelphia did a study sort of to find out. >> for a month, he went to every event he was invited to and not turned on one single -- turned down one single request. he went from 200 friends to 1,000 had been to 84 events. he told the story in his art exhibit. what is the point? he was trying to determine whether facebook was destroying the meaning of friendship. he decided the answer was not really. >> just a new hammer, like before hammers, people were still building structures and people were still getting things done. it's just the hammer has to do it more efficiently and elegantly. facebook is a new container, a new delivery system for us to kind of interact in the new ways. >> kim said the one thing that p

. >> 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 citizens to save others. it's not his call but he's heard the anger. >> what i want them to do is take that emotion, that anger, that energy, get ready for this storm, get ready, move their property out of harm's way. >> reporter: which is why in central louisiana today, it's moving day. and the state itself is doing its best to try to construct some emergency levees like you see here in morgan city but the issue for the federal government is the army corps of engineers says there's not going to be any reimbursement for the people who have to leave their land. they say they told them a long time ago when they bought the right to flood it they could flood it at any time and they send them a letter every year to remind them. diane. >> so hard to see them packing up knowing the water may be coming. thank you, jim avila. >>> and now we turn to a big day in politics for the republican the polls show poses the biggest challenge to preside

governor jindal saying you're going to be fighting the crest for weeks.rleans may have dodged a bullet here. the neighbors surrounding you are taking the bruntd of of it. i know you reached out to the people of new orleans to help the people of the rural areas, right? >> new orleans is safe and dry, the system is working as it was designed. but unfortunately, the folks in the spillway will take a hit. it's important for the people of new orleans who understand this as well as anybody in the world to reach out and to make sure that our friends in the spillway have what they need to get back up after the flood waters come in and go out again. >> do you feel confident, though, that where you are in new orleans and the folks of that city have essentially dodged a bullet at this point? >> we believe so. the levees, we believe, are going to hold. the levees are strong. the system is working exactly the way it's designed. they opened up the spillway, the mor morganza spillway and the old river spillway, the water levels was where they said it would be. that's fi

bobby jindal said another 11:00 will be added to the parishes that will get assistance. most people heeded the warnings as they told residents to head for higher ground. >> eric: space shuttle endeavour is expected to blast into history embarking on its final flight. a live look. it was two weeks ago when is the first attempt was scrubbed. gabrielle giffords has flown in to see her husband. john hendron has more from kennedy space center. >> the crew is on board for one last mission before space shuttle endeavour soars to final frontier retirement. and to watch the final flight joining gabrielle giffords to watch husband mark kelly command. >> she has been working really hard to make sure that her doctors would permit her to come. >> they come from as far away as california where endeavour will retire in los angeles. >> i want to watch the endeavour launch and land. >> they scrubbed a launch attempt two weeks ago after an electrical problem now resolved. >> it's in great shape. no issues at all. >> this is the second time that giffords has made the journey after being sh

. >>> louisiana governor bobby jindal says authorities could open a critical spillway as early as tomorrowg for mass flooding in the disaster prone state. but what if that is not enough. >> we've got to be ready for the worst case scenario just in case. this is an historic amount of water. when you look at the volume of the water and duration of the water, this is going to be a marathon. even if they decide to open the spillway, this is not going to be over this weekend. we are going to be facing weeks of elevated water. some parts of our state, the water will be higher than normal through july and august. >> meanwhile, president obama will travel to the flood stricken area on monday to meet with families, first responders, and how bad is it there, martin? >> reporter: well, wolf, we moved from memphis, tennessee, down to greenville, tennessee. the water is still rising. you can see the levee at 55 feet and will crest at 65 feet. and there is a devastating impact. this is on the water front here. you can take a look at some of the commercial activity, casinos and the water up to the center

john king flew over the flood area with the louisiana governor, bobby jindal. >> they're resilient peoplethey'll get through this. i've talked to a lot of families. nobody's happy about it, but they're moving their property, they know exactly where they will evacuate. the good news is if you give them the amount of time they had, they can secure their property. >> and you can see more of that tonight on john king usa at 7:00 eastern. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. >>> the florida mar whereins and new york mets were playing extra innings and the florida manager had a tough decision. bring in a pinch hitter or receipt tlet the pitcher back. the pitcher, who had only one hit in his career, got a single and it scored the winning run. he was the game's winning pitcher and guess what, he's upped his batting average to 0.083. the red sox were down 6-0 in the bottom of the 90s, gonzalez completes their come back. he doubles off the green monster. two runners sc

louisiana, a plea from governor bobby jindal for people likely in the path of the flood to get out whilecan. our cnn's rob marciano is with us from greenville, mississippi. rob, tell us what is happening where you are. >> reporter: well, the rivers continue to rise here. as a matter of fact, it's not going to crest until monday, and we're not even halfway down the state of mississippi as we continue our journey along with the floodwaters that are historic with this event. behind me, a familiar scene that we've seen especially on the eastern banks of the mississippi river. another casino that's submerged in water. so this town, the economy once again somewhat paralyzed because of the closing of these casinos. this used to be the normal river bank of the mississippi until they made all she's shortcthese. but now the river goes where it wants toug except where we've built these really big levees. look at the size of this levee that protects the city of greenville. it can take waters up to 75 feet high, and the crest of this river, come monday, is expected to be 65 feet. so we're hoping that

. >> that's louisiana governor bobby jindal. a spillway has been opened to relieve pressure on levees near new orleans. >>> it is 6:22. a big megadeal in the tech world. the takeover involving microsoft and skype. >> and the duke and duchess on their honeymoon now. what we have learned about william and catherine's romantic getaway. ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, microsoft has just confirmed it's buying "skype." the software giant will pay 8- a-half billion dol >>> a big deal to announce in the tech world this morning. microsoft has just confirmed it is buying skype. the software giant will pay $8.5 billion in cash for the internet phone company. it is the largest transaction in microsoft's history. skype has some 663 million users. coming up at 6: 45, cnet's brian cooley will join us with more details on what this means for the tech industry. >>> it is 6:25 now. the sharks hope this is the night. they can finally send those red wings on summer vacation. san jose needs to recover from sunday's devastating game 5 loss in the stanley cup p

governor jindal advises residents to plan ahead. >> my advice to our people is act as if the spillway, the corps is going to open the spillway. be prepared as if the decision was coming and that way -- i don't want people waiting. i don't want them to hesitate about whether they need to make evacuation plans or move their valuables or build these levees. >> reporter: president obama signed a disaster declaration for mississippi wednesday. 14 counties are now eligible for federal assistance. it's already too late to save some houses in the town of vicksberg on the mississippi- louisiana border and while efforts are under way to shore up flood defenses the woes could be yet to come. and about 1,000 people here in the vicksburg area have already been evacuated from their homes. and in the next week, officials say another 4,000 people could be displaced. juliette? >> so what's the biggest concern right now? >> reporter: right now, officials are looking at what's called back water flooding. the yazoo river and the mississippi have a confluence. neat just not too far behind me. that's -- th

with preparations underway, louisiana governor bobby jindal urged the public to use caution. >> in many parts of the state they're warning folks to stay away from the levees, to stay away from the operations, to fortify those levees. so i know there's a lot of curiosity. i know folks are attempted to drive their vehicles up to the levees. would strongly encourage our residents follow the guidance of your local law enforcement officials. just like we said during hurricanes hope for the best. prepare for the worst. >> brown: taken altogether events of the last days have brought back memories of the great flood of 1927. which left numerous areas along the mississippi devastated and killed hundreds of people. >> this is the second greatest flood in history. '27 would rank first. and then comes this. this is going to test the system. >> brown: last week flood worries prompted the u.s. government to blast a two-mile hole in a missouri levy in an effort to save the city of cairo illinois from disastrous flooding. even after tonight's expected crest in memphis, flood waters are expected to ling

and today, governor bobby jindal said it's working. >> in 1968 as whaling continued worldwide, the first recordings of hump back songs were releaseded. >> the bottom line is modestly good use in terms of the crests have been lowered modestly in terms of the amount of water projected in a number of places in louisiana stretching from north louisiana down south in the spill way as well as here in baton rouge. but there is still a significant amount of water coming our way, even with the lower projections, even with the lower predictions for the operation of the spill way, we are still looking at a very significant amount of water, setting some historic records coming our way. >> suarez: that water is expected to deluge a number of towns within days and local officials warned residents to prepare for a big hit. newshour correspondent tom bearden reports from the town of krotz springs, louisiana. >> reporter: the mississippi riverhe massive flood-control system that has evolved over the last 90 years, but it's been nearly 40 yearsrs since people in south louisiana have had to deal with the p

but governor bobby jindal said the army corps of engineers' latest forecast has improved slightly. >>ered the amount of water. they've reduced an area where they expect there to be significant back-water flooding but there are still areas that will be inundated. we encourage people to get the best information for your particular community, for your property. and then finally do listen to the guidance from your local officials. >> sreenivasan: nearly 5,000 people have already evacuated their homes as they await the flooding. pakistani troops exchanged shots with a nato helicopter today in a new incident on the afghan border. the pakistanis said two soldiers were wounded. it happened in the north waziristan tribal region, a known sanctuary for taliban and al qaeda militants. nato and pakistani officials gave conflicting accounts of which side of the border the helicopter was on when the shooting started. anti-government protesters in syria have called for a nationwide general strike for tomorrow. it is their latest attempt to force president bashar assad to end a brutal crackdown and gi

governor bobby jindal announced the u.s.given authority now to operate the morganza spillway, to open the spillway within the next 24 hours. opening the spillway will divert some of the mississippi's waters into farmland, but it's a desperate measure. it takes the pressure off fragile levees downriver. those levees protect baton rouge, but it will mean ruining crops and small towns and homes. let's take a closer look at this issue. you see the mississippi here coming down through tennessee, arkansas, down mississippi and into louisiana. here's essentially what this looks like. morganza spillway looks like this. here's how it is on a normal day, a little bit of water comicome ing through. the gates stop the water. if you decide to open the gates, you can see how that works. you let a lot more water through the gates. that's pretty basic how it would work. the question is, what are the consequences? let's bring this down. i just showed you an animation of one gate. there are 125 of them. 125 bays across the spillway. it stretc

bobby jindal said the problem will linger for a while.isten to him just moments ago. >> this isn't going to be over this weekend. we're going to be facing week said of elevated water. some part of the state, the water is going to be higher than normal through july and even august. >> so even august. our chad myers has said it. our general russel honore has said it. this is just the begibeening. who knows what is going to happen from here? that's the reason we're covering this here. breaking news on the heartbreak in louisiana. the flooding going on. it's so far a purposeful disaster. let's hope it stays at that. >>> all right, we're followic breaking news here on cnn. just about an hour and a half ago, they opened the morganza spillway. really the biggest sort of release mechanism to relieve the flow and pressure on the levee system, the taxed levee system in louisiana. these are new pictures in of the water pouring onto land and pouring onto property. look at that, unbelievable. you can't take your eyes off it. and no one knows what is g

. >> reporter: louisiana governor bobby jindal is urging calm. >> get ready.reporter: up and down the mississippi, they are trying to hold back the floods. in some places, the water is winning. >> backwater levee's that way. and when the water comes in we're going to possibly have six feet of water in our house. >> reporter: the coast guard could close down the mississippi to ships, halting traffic on one the world's busiest waterways. yunji de nies, abc news, natchez, mississippi. >> our thoughts and prayers with those folks in that part of the country. >>> switching gears now. two u.s. citizens are now in custody, charged in a terror plot to bomb synagogues here in new york. ahmed ferhani and mohammed mamdouh were arraigned in a manhattan court yesterday. they face life in prison fn they're convicted. the suspects are not connected to al qaeda or any other terror group. >>> meanwhile, we are learning this morning that the u.s. has now spoken to the three widows of osama bin laden. the women have been in pakistani custody ever since the deadly raid carried ou

as of that money as possible of the 19 million back to the goal for restoration and not to bobby jindal's crazy sand barriers or any crackpot idea he has come up with to spend the money. we wanted to be spent on land acquisition and to make people whole. we filed endangered species listing for the dwarf seahorse. is the smallest seahorse in the u.s., the third or fourth smallest in the world and it lives in sea grass beds. i think we have all seen seahorses and aquarians. they are viewed of the little things and dairy very sensitive, very sensitive to changes in habitat and decimation of sea grass seagrass and of course a lot of what happened was with the dispersants, the oil doesn't go away. it just breaks into smaller particles and sinks to the bottom and of course these get into the sea grass beds and are a real problem for the seahorses and other creatures who live down there. we are currently looking at as john mentioned the brown pelican was a rare success story under the endangered species act where they come back from really a few hundred to tens of thousands of individuals in the

as much of the money as possible of the 19 billion back to the gulf for restoration and not bobby jindal's stand barriers or any crackpot ideas he has come up with to spend the money . we want it to be real restoration land acquisition to make people whole. we have filed endangered species listing petitions for the dorcy course. it's the smallest seed worse in the u.s., third or fourth smallest in the world and lives in a sea grass beds and i think we have all seen sea horses and aquariums, they are beautiful little things and very sensitive, very sensitive to changes in habitat and decimation of sea grass and a lot of what happened with the disbursement is the oil doesn't go away it just breaks into smaller particles and sinks to the bottom and of course they get into the grass beds and are a problem for the sea horses and other creatures that live down there. we are currently looking at as john mentioned the brown pelican was a success story under the endangered species act had come back from just a few hundred to tens of thousands of individuals in the last 20 years but thus build the r

governor bobby jindal has activated hundreds of national guard troops for emergency duty.people across the state to stay away from the levees. >>> as threatening as the floodwaters are along the mississippi, memphis may actually be in better shape than louisiana and other areas to the south. that city prides itself in the strength of its levees but they've never been tested quite like this before. jim avila has the story. >> reporter: 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 danger sign that the mississippi is finding its way beneath the levee system. >> we think that this is probably one of the more significant threats to the levee. >> this is basically nothing. i mean it's not even a -- down on the bottom. >> reporter: they're looking for four distinct threats to a levee and flood wall system. like the one keeping the mississippi out of the streets of memphis. first, overtopping. that

governor bobby jindal said he might open up a spillway that hasn't been unlocked since 1973.undreds in mississippi turned out at a meeting on tuesday to talk about the flood plan with the army corp of engineers. state officials there called the scenario they are facing beyond, quote, a 100 year flood. down in ten tee, thousands of homes and byes are at risk. this is a bird's eye view of shelby county. in diresberg they are sandbagging and trying to get out and hold on to whatever is possible. >> if it wasn't for our faith, i'll tell you, we'd be up a creek. >> reporter: president obama signed declarations declaring a disaster in mississippi, tennessee and kentucky. emergency officials in all of those states have ordered people in the danger zone to head to higher ground. ainsley earhart, fox news. >>> it is 8:13 right now on this thursday morning and time to turn to mr. perkins for a couple of reasons. >> we know it will be warmer today but we're going to heat it up right now. >> let's start right now with the warm-up factor of the day. officially it is the my first 5 photo o

louisiana's governor bobby jindal urging people who live in the path of the morganza spillway to getave the time. he says that the army corps of engineers may open up the spillway as early as tomorrow to avert water away from baton rouge and new orleans. meanwhile, up north, illinois farmers were getting the springp crops in the ground when the floods destroyed everything. one illinois farmer says that the season is over before it even got started. >> we had some corn planted that's history. that's underwater. it is bothering me, because it is going to be a tough year. >> well, adding to the misery in the region, heavy rain is falling in the mississippi delta, and the national weather service says that the mississippi river is at the highest level ever recorded in natchez and second highest ever recorded in vicksburg, and the river is expected to rise another six feet over the next week. and patrick oppmann is talking to one man who knows this river so well. >> reporter: morning breaks on the mississippi river. boat captain keith flashmans has been navigating the waters for over 30 y

. >> bobby jindal says that rising water is likely to top the great flood of 1927 which inundated more than 23,000 square miles of land, and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. >>> also this morning, hollywood is mourning the loss of jackie cooper. >> not only does he have a snappy style but he is, in my 40 years in this business, the fastest typist i have ever seen. >> cooper may be best known for playing newspaper editor perry white in the christopher reeve superman movies. but he was also nominated for an oscar in 1931 when he was 9 years old. he went on to star in comedies like "our gang" and later direct tv shows like m.a.s.h. he died tuesday in california, 88 years old. it is 7:16 right now. back over to chris. and original superman one of the best. >> absolutely. all right, jeff, thank you so much. see you later on in the broadcast. now let's talk a little bit more weather. let's see if mother nature is cooperating with some parts of the country. marysol castro with our first check of the weather on this thursday morning. >> chris, mother nature is, in fact, cooperati

louisiana governor bobby jindal says the damage to agriculture in louisiana alone will be $300 millionap fans are mourning the death of m-bone as police search for his killer. the rapper was killed sunday night in a drive-by shooting. the group is known for the song teach me how to duggy. police say the rapper was sitting in a car in englewood when another car pulled up and fired two rounds. he later died at the hospital from gunshot wounds to his head. his rep says he was the victim of a random act of violence. >>> apparently we now know why arnold schwarzenegger and maria shriver split up. a source tells cnn schwarzenegger fathered a child ten years ago with a household staffer. the source says he has provided support for his child since birth. the shocking news comes a week after schwarzenegger and shriver made public that they were separating after 25 years of marriage. schwarzenegger admits to the affair. in a statement, he says, after leaving the governor's office, i told my wife about this event. i understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment. >>> in a written