and here is the morganza spillway.ere is the mississippi river where we're seeing all that flooding and really the high level. with the water coming over towards the west and down towards the south, of course, that is going to cause the flooding. we're talking about thousands of structures in damage and thousands of people being evacuated. to give you an idea of the levels that we're expecting the water to actually climb down towards parts of louisiana, i want to show you this. this is coming in, and again, this is an estimate, not an exact science. but you can see in the atchafalaya basin, we're talking 10 to 15 feet, 15 to 20. anywhere in the gold, that's the mississippi river, anywhere between 20 and 30 feet in some locations. down towards the south, a little lesdz amount of water, zero to 5 feet, but none the less, this is going to certainly really cause havoc on homeowners down there. as i zoom out for you, i also want to give you an idea of the size of it. this area equates to about half the size of the state of

the morganza spillway is now open.h the tulane university professor and retired general russel honore about the decision to flood thousands of homes and businesses to save the state's two largest cities. [ female announcer ] it's more than just one thing. now aveeno brings all five factors of radiance together with positively radiant spf 30. with active naturals soy, it's now proven to visibly transform all five factors of radiance; tone, texture, blotchiness, dullness and brown spots. so now the definition of radiant skin... you're looking at it. [ female announcer ] positively radiant. and try skin brightening daily scrub, only from aveeno. discover the power of active naturals. should i bundle all my policies with nationwide insurance ? watch this. on one hand, you have your home insurance with one company. and on another hand, you have your auto with another. and on another hand, you have your life with another. huh... but when you bundle them all together with nationwide insurance... ... they all work together per

the morganza spillway is now open.lk with the tulane university professor and retired general russel honore about the decision to flood thousands of homes and businesses to save the state's two largest cities. sary! are we still on for tonight? yeah, of course. of course. [ laughs ] you remembered to make a reservation, right? yeah, i remembered that. the number one thing a man should remember. i'm gonna be there soon. i'm gonna come pick you up. and i'll, uh...i'll -- i'll -- i'll call you -- i'll call you when i'm on the way. i'm -- i'm on the way. ok? ok! [ male announcer ] only at&t's network lets your iphone talk and surf at the same time. your finances can't manage themselves. but that doesn't mean they won't try. bring all your finances together with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan. unlike fish oil, megared softgels are small and easy to swallow with no fishy smell or aftertaste. try megared today. ♪ for the radio station don't sign off with

this is the morganza. i'll make a mess. all over your script. >> the water will spill anyway. >> the red line indicates actually the top of this indicates the top of the levee. by taking this all out you can see the line will fall back down and back below flood stage. >> that's with both of them. >> this has had an immediate effect. unfortunately this will affect to many other people that live in that basin. >> good explanation. >> i'll clean the mess up. >> our meteorologist here at cnn. we appreciate it. thank you. >>> we're following a developing story. it's about one of the most powerful voices when it bombs the world's money pulled off a planing tonight and questioned about an alleged sexual assault. we'll have a live report four. then there's this. two leaders of the muslim faith arrested in this miami house charged with aiding terrorists. many of you have been sending and asking for information on social media. reach out to us on twitter, on facebook, on cnn.com/don. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall.

the one and only time the morganza spillway had to be opened. there's no guarantee it will even work. the mississippi river is already dangerously high in new orleans. the army corps of engineers is hoping that by diverting water through two spillways will lower the river level and spare the city. so far, the corps says opening the morganza spillway appears to be having the desired effect. the biggest test is still days away, the highest water, hundreds of miles up river. this is greenville, mississippi, that you're looking at right now. a live report from there, and it is being inundated, straight ahead on cnn. let's get right to ed lavandera who was there when the morganza spillway was opened just about three hours ago. ed, tell us about it. ed lavandera is joining us on the phone. ed, can you hear us? >> reporter: just a while ago, this is the area that was all dry several hours ago, but since they opened up the first floodgates of the morganza spillway, this is what has been drowned out. as we've mentioned, this will be a long, slow path to

, where at the morganza spill, the u.s.my corps of engineers, talking about the potential of opening up the spillway in order to protect new orleans and baton rouge. let's listen in. >> drains into this area and comes by the mississippi and the after fa yeah. >> that's the mississippi river tributaries project we're working on right now. next slide -- on this slide here, this is what guys thought about 30 years ago and what we've been constructing for the last -- since 1928, to put a system together where we meet certain gauges an certain requirements where we take water off of the main stem of the mississippi and we move them around to different areas and stage that water so we can continue to protect lives as we move down river. you know we opened up the flood way at bird's point new madrid, we opened that up last week. we also opened up the bonnet carre spillway, there's discussions about opening up morganza. i'll get to that in just a moment. the gauges are still at historic highs. i was at cairo, illinois, two days ago

the first bay of morganza spillway is open.slowly diverting dangerous flood waters from the mississippi river away from baton rouge and new orleans. it comes at a great cost to others as water gushes through the spillway, homes and farms across the atchafalaya river basin will be flooded. >>> and jury selection in a sensational florida murder trial will continue today. lawyers are working a full day trying to seek jurors to hear the case of casey anthony. she's accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter nearly three years ago. she was missing for two months before her skeletal remains were found near the home. >> and etta james is in the hospital this evening with a blood infection. she's best known for "at last." her son tells cnn his mom was admitted to a hospital in southern california and she's doing a little better but she's not out of the woods just yet. >>> an taems is being conducted to find out what killed new york rangers player derek boogaard. the hockey player's body was discovered yesterday in his minneapolis apart

>> at 1500 this afternoon, we will open up the morganza floodway. we'll start with one bay. and that will bring about 10,000 cubic feet per second down this floodway. >> reporter: in order to save cities downstream, for only the second time in 38 years, engineers have begun opening some of the 125 gates of the morganza louisiana spillway, allowing the overflowing mississippi river to flood thousands of acres of harm lands, homes and structures, and displacing as maybe -- many as 2500 people. >> they told us to move as the we were moving, period. >> not coming back. >> not coming back. not to leave a toothpick behind. >> knowing that all of this that you worked for is going to be gone, that's all you can think about report roirt was an agonizing decision for the army corps of engineer. sacrifice these homes and farms to save cities down teem. the mississippi could overwhelm

people are in danger if you open that morganza floodway. what do you say to them? >> right now a lot of work has been done in morgan city. the national guard is giving them additional protection. but from 191 2, 1927, 1937 and 1973 this area has flooded. down to morgan city. that's one of the reasons why that floodgate was put in morganza to control that water and most of that area is agricultural area. until you get to morgan city which has a ring leavee around it to help protect it. the corps has done a lot of work but private levees have been built to protect homes. we're at a high-risk situation right now. >> general russel honore, thank you very much. we hope for the very best those in baton rouge and all along the mississippi river and those areas that will be impacted by this ongoing flooding. >>> it has been a tough disaster year in the last nine months, 32

thank you. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> morganza to the rescue or morganza to the disasterive in relation to the mississippi. we are coming up to 40 hours since the army corps of engineers started to open up the spillways of the morganza, and spillways that had not budged since 1973. the spillway acts like a pressure valve on the swollen mississippi river to stop the downpour from baton rouge and new orleans, and flooding more areas. more are to be opening today. this is home of the atchafalaya basin. and looking at this place is another place where lives are loaded on to trucks literally. no one knows how high it will be and how to gwhen they leave. but one man is fortunate that he has time to get out. >> we are fortunate to have what we have and get out. material things we can replace and our family and what we believe in daily, you cannot put up a price. >> did you put up that sign? >> yes. i'm proud of that and what it says we will be back. >> what about the city that morganza was built to protect? well, last week baton rouge crest was not expected to crest until may 22

let's talk more about the morganza flood gates. what you're looking at in red, this is actually the flood gate, here is the mississippi river, to help you visualize it a bit more. when you open up the flood gate, we'll see more of the water flooding the area you're seeing just to this region to the west. that is going to flood roughly about 34,000 square kilometers. this area for butte he rose, that doesn't have a levee system. as i take you over towards the east, talking about morgan city. you can see populated area. they do have a levee system. everything plays out, it looks like hopefully morgan city will be doing pretty good. keep in mind. pay attention, a little more about morgan city. as i show you a little more about levees. just imagine if there is a levee there and the water gets so high and it over tops the levee, the homes will look like islands. if you have the levee system there and it holds up, it will protect the towns nearby. by opening morganza spillway, that will lead to more protection downstream for areas includ

the morganza spillway was an important component for us. it's going to relieve a tremendous amount of pressure in the city of new orleans. based on what the corps has told us, we believe the city of new orleans is going to be safe. this is a very tragic situation, really for everybody in america and of course the people who live along the atchafalaya basin and in morgan city, and our hearts go out to them, but we have every reason to believe based upon the information the corpses has given us and the inspections that have been done, that new orleans is going to be safe. >> reporter: so many new orleans when you say it was a natural disaster, they stop you and say it was man made. 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 mi

some already in memphis, more in the mississippi delta and when morganza opens. the corps does have a trigger, when the river exceeds 1.5 million cubic feet a second they're going to open morganza and it will exceed that and i'm certain they'll open morganza. >> brown: all right, well thanks for the explanation and history. john barry and larry larson, thanks for joining us. >> you're welcome, thank you. >> lehrer: still to come on the "newshour": the republican presidential field; the h.i.v. epidemic in ukraine and the crackdown in syria. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: a federal jury in new york has convicted a former wall street leader in the largest insider trading case ever, involving hedge funds. raj rajaratnam, founder of the galleon group, was found guilty on 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy. prosecutors said his gains from illegal tips totaled more than $60 million. rajaratnam could get more than 19 years in prison. the stock market tumbled today after news that demand for gasoline fell by the mo

this is our google earth image that we have of the morganza floodgates. here, that line is your mississippi river, past a that landscape, all the way down to baton rouge and new orleans. but this area in blue, that's where you're going to have all the flooding. 3,000 scare miles and you have roughly 25,000 people that live there, over 11,000 structures that could all be under water. some places the water may be as high as 25 feet in depth. the problem is that water's going to be flowing over to morgan city, a place protected by several levees. a place without levees really can't hold back the river. sometimes it can move miles inland. in this situation, we're hoping the levees will be strong enough to hold back that rising water and protect those communities. again, 12,000 people call morgan city home. a very scary prospect indeed. what we're seeing in terms of weather, we need some dry weather in parts of the southeast, especially in parts of louisiana. louisiana and mississippi should be okay, but more rain expected in the united states. not only some r

eastern time, the army corps of engineers opened the morganza spillway. waters rising to interstate 10 which cuts through the spillway. now by 3:00 p.m. today, 48 hours later, the communities of krots springs and bute her rose expect to be hit by the water. parts of crotz were evacuated yesterday. in butte larose, there are 800 homes in the flood path. flooding will spread through tuesday 72 hours after the flood gates opened. wednesday the waters will reach morgue city, louisiana, where residents have been creating temporary barriers to protect their homes. the water expanding west by thursday afternoon. then for the next few days after that, the swollen mississippi continues its slow crawl spreading to the east hitting huma, louisiana. >> we'll continue to follow that story. >>> president obama is going to be in memphis this morning to deliver the commencement speech at a high school. the school is booker t. washington high. it won the president's race to the top competition. president obama will meet with first responders and families affected along th

this is the morganza spillway behind me. 125 gates. you might be able to see there way in the distance a gray structure over the top of the bridge, that is what will pull up one of the gates and what will hapb when that happens, the water will push through the gate and you can see over here the dry land that is out on this way, 100 miles and curve around like this through the river basin and 100 miles down towards morgan city and that's where we caught up with the mayor of morgan city. tim matt who has spent the last few weeks getting his city ready for the incoming flood waters. >> well, it is the heart of the city and it's primarily protected, of course, by that wall right there and it would take a failure of that wall, i think, before this would really be at risk. what we're really concerned about, though, that high river stage raising the water level back where the lake is and then if that got topped because that level of protection is not nearly as high as this. that water would flow throughout the city and not be held within a pa

new video into cnn of the morganza spillway north of baton rouge.ore gates were opened up doubling the amount of water pouring into the basin. it is too late for residents in stat francisville across the mississippi river from the spillway. even though many homes are on stilts, the water was much higher than anyone had seen before. a man in charge of hundreds of billions of the world's money is sitting in a new york city jail cell on attempted rape charges. domenick strauss-kahn is the head of the international monetary fund and organization that oversees the world economy. his attorneys say he'll plead not guilty when arraigned this evening. >>> now to the middle east where israeli troops fired tier gas at violent protesters. similar clashes erupted on all of the borders of israel today. 12 were killed, many more hurt. this is a day set aside where palestinians protest the creation of israel. >>> evangelist billy graham is now home in north carolina after five days in the hospital. the 92-year-old evangelist is recovering from pneumonia. doctors sa

the morganza spillway. the state making a decision to open the spillway and release water into some communities, burying homes in those communities to protect communities like baton rouge, new orleans, one of the extraordinary measures this state is taking. the stakes are enormous. governor jindal saying $300 million alone in crop damage, tens of millions in other property damage. there are a dozen oil refineries in flood zone. there are chemical factories, homes and businesses as well. listen to governor jindal here explaining the tough decision to open the spillway he says will protect larger communities without a doubt but for the families right in the devastated zone, listen to how many homes could be, could be just buried. >> look, worst case scenario and i don't think the numbers will be this bad. they said 3 million acres under water. 20 to 30,000 people will be flooded. approximately between 11 or 15,000 homes. since then the estimate has been revised. they didn't have to open as much of the spillwa

. >> the crests we thought we were going to have a couple days ago prior to opening up the morganza floodway has been reduced because of that operation. >> reporter: the river is now expected to reach a height of 45 feet in baton rouge on wednesday instead of the record 47.5 feet previously calculated. new orleans will top off at 17 feet and go no higher according to the national weather service. >> the corps continues to assure us there should be no flooding and the main line levees are projected to hold.

we opened up the morganza spillway for the first time yesterday since 1973.:00, another bay was opened up at around 6:30. the reason they did that is they're trying to divert water away from the mississippi river and move it away from the big citi cities. by opening the spillway it is moving water into the basin. over 25,000 people live into that part of southern louisiana. now as long as that water continues to move south toward the gulf of mexico, it does look like it will have a big impact for parishes on the southern edge of louisiana. it looks like a lot of areas are going to be dealing with flooding anywhere from five, maybe even upwards of over 20 feet. a lot of families are voluntarily evacuating. there's no mandatory evacuation just yet but that could change depending on the flow of water into that part of louisiana. >> how bad off is houma going to be where you are? >> well, we're just to the north of houma. we're in a town called gibson. it's only a town of about 4,500 people. here they are preparing like it is going to get bad. they're going to be

two more gates were opened at the morganza spillway.ed to evacuate and it's too late for some residents in st. francisville across the river where mississippi has invaded the town. even though many homes are on stilts, no one had ever seen the water get this high. arraignment postponed until monday for the top politician. dominique strauss-kahn is accused of sexually assaulting a maid at a luxury hotel. he'll plead not guilty according to his attorneys. here's what they had to say moments ago outside the courthouse. >> we have a very short thing to say. our client willingly consented to a scientific and forensic examination tonight. >> can't hear what you're saying, sir. >> our client consented to an examination tonight at the request of the government. that being done. in light of the hour we agreed to postpone the arraignment until tomorrow morning and we expect to be here in court tomorrow morning. >> how is your client doing? >> he's tired but he's fine. >> thank you very much. >> again, mr. strauss-kahn's appearance tomorrow mornin

right now four flood gates on the more began z-- morganza

dean reynolds, cbs news morganza, louisiana. >>> now to politics. another prominent republican is expected to announce today that he is running for the white house. tara mergener is in washington with details. good morning, tara. so, who is it this time? >> good morning to you, betty. well this list of gop hopefuls is now getting longer. but the race is still considered wide open. texas congressman ron paul is expected to make his third presidential run official. this morning in new hampshire, aides say, he'll throw his hat into the ring for the republican nomination. he'll join former speaker newt gingrich, who announced his run earlier this week, and former massachusetts governor mitt romney. >> i'm going to talk today about repealing and replacing president obama's health care system. >> reporter: in michigan thursday, romney blasted president obama's health care overhaul. but he also defended the model for that plan. his own program in massachusetts. >> our plan was a state solution to a state problem. and his is a power grab by the federal gove

hello, chris. >> brian, we're taking a look at the effects of opening the morganza spillway. first i want to show you a look at where we have new orleans and look upstreamthat's where the morganza spillway is located. if they open that this weekend, this is what is expected to happen. the areas shaded in green that's where we could see flood depths of up to 10 feet. in yellow, 10 to 20 feet. for morgan city, this is what we're looking at. the flood stage, keep in mind is 4 feet. with that spillway open, 12 to 13 feet of water could be heading that way. so, brian, it does look like new orleans may end up being spared. but other locations like morgan city may not be so lucky. >> all right, chris, we're going to count on you to be part of our team keeping an eye on the water in the days ahead. thanks. >>> now we turn overseas. the latest news resulting from the death of osama bin ladin. we seem to be learning more about him in the 11 days since his death at the hands of u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s than we've been able to learn in the past ten years, thanks to all that stuff the s.e.a.l.

we were talking about that on friday, and opening several gates of the morganza spillway. so they did it to save new orleans and baton rouge, but it means that people living in the low-lying areas just to west and south may lose their homes and everything they cannot pack, pack in a bag and leave with. in fact, in vicksburg, mississippi, the national weather service tells us that the river reached record levels of 56.2 feet yesterday. our martin savage is live there in vicksburg, and martin, obviously, tough for people right there. i know that you went on a boat tour and tell me what you saw and what people there are saying. >> well, you know, vicksburg is under siege once more. if you remember the history from the civil war, there was the great siege of vicksburg now, and now it is the yazoo and the mississippi river. this is looking like a model, but it is very real. that building dates back to 1802, and now it is completely inundated. that water is up 11 feet on the city frontier, and right next door is the blue tarp which is a quickly put together wooden levee that has

this is the entrance to a farm in morganza. it like so many thousands of acres of farmland in louisiana is covered in water. for farmers, the land that is still dry is too dry to farm. george is a farmer facing two catastrophes at once. water gushing through the morganza spillway has destroyed thousands of acres of his soy, corn, cotton and wheat. no telling what this flooding will do to that land. >> we'll see in four or five months when the water goes down. >> is that how long it will take to be gone? >> we don't anticipate the water to be gone too quick. >> what fields he does have left are unusable, thanks to a severe drought. can you plant anything in this kind of soil? >> no, no. you need moisture. you need rain. >> what a dilemma to be praying for rain and to be watching that water. >> i never dreamed it. >> reporter: bad for farmers, but the dry land is an unexpected benefit for thousands down river. since the dry land is a better sponge, meaning the flooding is less likely to reach them. >> you'll see the farmers strug

what they did over the weekend is they opened up the gates at morganza.n a low area, low level. this is the bayou. these are difference and swamps and the bayou. but people do live there. but they knew, these gates haven't been opened since '73. they knew when they built there or moved there that this was a possibility. this is the outlet to save new orleans and save baton rouge and they had to use it. now new orleans actually crested, cresting right now, they're not going to let the water go too far from where it is now. but still cresting for baton rouge and the like. i have one more picture. we talked about how they opened that spillway. bonnet carrey. this water won't fill up lake pontchartrain because they filled up morganza. a lot of water will go down there, not pollute lake pontchartrain like it could have. >> thanks, chad. >>> the u.s. is now focusing on mending relations with pakistan. senator john kerry is in the pakistani capital. a live report on his mission up next. what's this option? that's new. personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what

army corps of engineers is expected to open the floodgates on the morganza spillway. the plan is to slowly divert floodwaters away from baton rouge and new orleans. the spillway has not been opened in nearly 40 years. the move will flood other areas in south central louisiana. and this map right here you're about to see it, it says it all. areas in yellow could get up to 20 feet of water and green up to 15 feet. we'll have live coverage of a briefing by the u.s. army corps of engineers at 2:00 eastern time. >>> in areas like morgan city, louisiana, could get disastrous flooding. morgan city is protected by flood walls. but those walls could fail. the city's mayor talked about his concerns with her ed lavandera. >> reporter: are you worried about it flooding? this is the heart of the city. >> it is. and it's primarily protected by that wall right there. it would take a failure of that wall, i think, before this would really be at risk. what we're really concerned about is that high river stage raising the water level back where the lake is and then if that got topped,

it's day two of the morganza spillway opening. the u.s. army corps of engineers opened two additional flood gates sunday morning and could open even more. the first mandatory evacuation order has been issued for nearly 2,000 residents in one louisiana parrish. when you have an evacuation order from a local elected official or a local law enforcement official, you need to understand what's important to you. pack up a few important things and get your family and heed their advice. >> other residents have left voluntarily, using levees and sandbags as protection for their home. >> we took a chance and purchased the property because we love the river. the river has always been a part of our lives. if the river destroyed properties, then that's what happens to be. >> the usda says farmers who are covered for crop damage will be eligible for crop insurance. and as the spillway is expected to be open for weeks, evacuees will have to wait at least that long to return home. i'm barbara hall, reporting from atlanta. >> let's go to our meteorologist

. >> federal authorities opened three more flood gates of louisiana's morganza spillway. they're trying divert water from the mississippi river to save new orleans and baton resume from flooding. the river has crested at 17 feet above stage in new orleans. here's more. >> reporter: four flood gates are now open at the time morganza spill we were. the mississippi river is rushing through, farmlands transformed from a dry field to a lake. houses and roads being submerged. even animals are being forced to deal with the rising water. opening the spillway diverted the water from the more heavily populated cities of baton scrooge new orleans. >> -- baton rouge and new orleans. >> nothing is going to push us out. >> people in the path of the flood waters are urged to evacuate. some people 50 miles from the spillway are raising to get valuables to higher ground. >> i'm going to watch it daily, and if i see it coming up, you know, if i feel threatened by it, i'm going. >> reporter: perry has lived in more began city for 20 years. >> going to have nice quiet life. retirement. and s

i do want to go to our ed lavandera who has been standing by at that morganza spillway. you were giving us the heads up that this could come in the next few hours. is that still what you're hearing? >> we still anticipate that that will happen and really what they're monitoring right now, t.j., is the water pressure throughout the mississippi river as it heads into baton rouge and new orleans and there's a number you need to keep in mind here. 1.5 million cubic feet of water per second. that amount of pressure on the levee system between baton rouge and new orleans will trigger the opening of this morganza spillway gate. i don't know if you can see, way off in the distance, halfway down the bridge, you see two giant cranes on top of the spillway here. this spillway is almost 5,000 feet long and has 125 flood gates and those cranes have already been put into position here in the coming hours. they will drop down and start to lift up one of those gates and the process of opening up these flood gates will be very slow. all of this water that you see here wasn't here about a

one flood gate is opened on the morganza spillway.o relieve pressure on that swollen mississippi river. army corps of engineers opened that spillway to save baton rouge and new orleans by diverting a lot of the water. in doing so it's going to head towards other low-lying areas in louisiana, and possibility flood hundreds and hundreds of homes. >> when you have an evacuation order from a local elected official or local armed enforcement official you need to understand what's important to you, pack up a few important things, get your family and heed their advice. >> those pictures of that water gushing out, exactly, it's hard to get a good idea of how much water we're taunging about here. by the end of this hour, $269 million gallons will flow through there. how much is that? sounds like a lot. here's perspective for you. the water flowing out of that one gate is half of what's flowing over niagara falls right now. if they opened all the gates that spillway will generate the same flow in one hour that my rag rah falls does all day long

de nies. >> reporter: 50 miles to the north of butte la rose, the floodgates have been opened at morganzapellway. the swollen mississippi is gushing through those gates with a greater force than the water going over niagara falls. this is supposed to be the surest way to spare cities like new orleans from another tragic flood. so butte la rose, which sits on a flood plain, knows that all that water is, instead, barreling down on them. likely to swallow up their homes, their businesses, their memories. how high do you think it will be right where we are? >> you and i's heads will definitely be under the water. >> reporter: this is the parish president. kind of like the mayor. and says he's staying. >> it really is heart wrenching that we are going to be sacrificed for others. it's a numbers game i guess. >> reporter: what we found most remarkable is that there's no panic in this little haven. like the river flowing through town, high water is in their blood. >> my grandfather fought in the flood of '27. here we are in 2011, i'm fighting high waters. i got my son with me this morning. no te

and here is the morganza spillway. all right? right there. here's that -- this is the area also that we have, this area in red. that's the area that will be under several feet of water if the spillway is opened. these hundreds of thousands of acres might still flood but not nearly as much if the spillway stays closed. all right, enough with the maps. time now to meet the people who stand to lose their homes and livelihoods to the ravages of nature and the decisions of well meaning humans. here's cnn ed lavendera. >> reporter: tucked away in the shade of louisiana cypress trees and back water creeks, you'll have a hard time fighti ining b la rose. >> i put that sign up about two months ago and i've always wanted to name the camp last dance. >> reporter: the music has stopped and pierre -- >> don't know why i'm locking it. >> reporter: -- is packing it all up before the floodwaters wash over butte la rose. >> i had a big table in here. i had a few ton over here. th this was cabinets. 70% of the people are packed up and gone. >> it is going to b

. >> reporter: with more than 10% of the gates in the morganza spillway now open, no one is quite sure when the water will arrive, frustrating some residents trying to plan their escape. >> it goes to show you they don't know. they don't know what is going to happen. >> reporter: the army corps of engineers says its plan is working as expected with an unexpected assist from the drought. >> as the water comes out of the morganza spillway, it's being sucked up and absorbed so fast from the earth that it's not flowing as fast as it should, which is a good thing. >> reporter: in stevensville, protecting the elementary school is a community effort, but the principal is taking no chances. today, he ended the school year two weeks early. >> all the equipment has been removed and the furniture has been removed. we're trying to save as much of the building as we can. >> this congressman grew up here and represents six of the eight threatened parishes. >> we seem to keep taking it on the chin, but we get up and go about our lives afterwards. >> reporter: even when their homes are sacrificed to p

we want to begin with more on the floogsd in the south and the opening of the morganza spillway. that's where chief environmental affairs correspondent ann thompson is for us this morning. ann, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. the flood you see behind me could save new orleans. in a breathtaking demonstration of the power of the mississippi river, one of the 120 125 bays of the morganza spillway opened and set in motion a series of events that could take the homes of some 25,000 louisianans. the mississippi river roared through just one gate in what the army corps of engineers called a flow opening. the flow headed for the sparsely populated river basin area instead of louisiana's two biggest cities, baton rouge and new orleans. the release is part of a decades old plan to control flooding on america's biggest river, but it didn't make the decision any easier for colonel ed fleming. >> none of these decisions that we make are easy. i don't take them lightly, and we remember that public safety is our number one priority. >> reporter: the water could impact as many

this afternoon they opened the first of the floodgates of the morganza spillway, up stream from baton rouge and new orlea orleans. potentially flooding thousands of square miles of countryside. dean reynolds is in organza with the very latest. >> reporter: good evening, russ. officials told us this afternoon everyone in the area the water will take 24 hours to reach has already departed and as you can see behind me, with good reason. only one of the 125 gates on this 4,000-foot-long spillway was opened, a cautious first step to give everyone and everything a chance to flee. >> we'll open one bay today. we'll open one or two tomorrow. and then we'll open gates based upon the river conditions as they exist. >> reporter: the mississippi is cresting now near helena, arkansas, over 250 miles north of the morganza spillway. officials in louisiana know they are in for a period of acute anxiety as they try to manipulate the third longest river in the world. >> this is certainly going to be a marathon, and not a sprint as woe go through this tremendous amount, huge amount of water as it comes

this is based on the morganza release. do more work on keeping people informed without getting them panicked on what is the possibility of the levee breaking either on the west baton rouge side or, god forbid, something happen just south of baton rouge. inside of baton rouge we got the big exxon fuel refinery. north of baton rouge, we've got a nuclear power plarnt. south of baton rouge is st. charles parish, we've got the water for the nuclear plant. i think we need to start turn our attention to those worst case scenarios and really showing people the worst ones in the worst case scenario. the state and corps has released that now, now we got to get people to listen, chad, and see if they're in that worst case ascenario. >> amelia, morgan city, other people are in danger if you open that morganza floodway. what do you say to them? >> right now a lot of work has been done in morgan city. the national guard is giving them additional protection. but from 191 2, 1927, 1937 and 1973 this area has flooded. down to morgan city.

by tonight, 11 separate flood gates on the big morganza spillway will be open and flowing. it spreads out from there downstream in louisiana where 25,000 people live in its potential path. over 3 million acres of land, 13,000 structures. in all, the homeowners must now evacuate and wait. the government saved some big cities from catastrophe while launching thousands of personal tragedies across the state. we have two reports on this tonight beginning with anne thompson in melville, louisiana anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. people here in melville are bracing for this manmade flood. the result of a choice to sacrifice this part of louisiana to spare its biggest cities. that choice in turn has people in these rural communities facing some very difficult options. here in st. landry parish, the atchafalaya river swamped the neighborhood even before the morganza spillway opened. now the mississippi river gushes through to save new orleans and baton rouge from flooding. while in the tiny town of port springs 15 miles away, residents have few easy choices. >>

. >>> federal authorities opened three more flood gates in louisiana's morganza spillway, they're trying to divert water from the mississippi river to save new orleans and baton rouge from flooding. the river hascrested in new orleans seven feet before not gate. >> four glad threats are now open at the morganza spillway, in the mississippi river is rushing through, rolling across the basin. formlands transformed from a dry field to a lake. houses and road being submerged. animals are being forced to deal with the rising water. opening the spillway diverted the water from the cities of baton rouge and new orleans. >> we keep coming back, and nothing is going to push us out of louisiana. >> people in the path of the flood waters are urged to evacuate. some in this community, just 50 miles from the spillway, are racing to get their valuables to higher ground. >> i'm going to watch it daily. if i see it coming up, you know, if i feel threatened by it, i'm going. >> reporter: ronald per perry has lived in morgan city. >> a nice retirement life, and seems like everything is turning upside-down

>> everything's underwater. >> reporter: the gates of the morganza opened saturday and flooded these fields. part of the projected $300 million louisiana farmers will lose. >> this is a spillway. this is what it's meant to do, and this is what it's going to do. >> i'm waiting on the water. >> reporter: bradley grimmet grows corn and soybeans on 700 acres in the spillway. but with no soybeans planted, he says the flood has already cost him $200,000 and could get worse. >> whatever the water does controls what will happen to us. you know. but we stand to lose everything, actually. >> reporter: now, bradley grimmet is not alone. economists say that americans could pay higher food prices because of the flood. but it's the people here that may pay the highest price of all. brian? >> anne thompson starting us off in louisiana. could not be a sadder story for so many folks down there. anne, thanks. >>> now we turn to the story that so many people in this country woke up to this morning. the shocking revelation that arnold schwarzenegger, the former governor of california, has a child with a

the morganza could impact 13,000 buildings, 25,000 people, and 3 million acres of land. >> put it back up here. >> reporter: 2 1/2 acres belong to john menard. he's packing up his butte larose home and heading for higher ground. leaving his cypress clad home shattered, this big tough oil worker. what is it like to think about losing your house? >> the words -- no words. because i built this myself. >> reporter: the atchafalaya river is already above 19 feet. the national weather service's jonathan bryzell marked a telephone pole to show residents what could happen. >> if they open the spillway gates at 50%, so half are open, we're expecting the level to get to 29. >> john menard is resigned. >> mother nature is mother nature, and there's not much you can do about it, you know. >> reporter: few here are willing to take a chance on mother nature. even though the flood is not expected to hit here until next week, today, we already found nurses moving homebound patients out of harm's way. brian? >> its 'tough to watch, anne, and we have to talk about new orleans. a city, when you mention i

the morganza spillway goes south into the heart of cajun country. >> do what you do. pray the lord it don't come up higher than three or four feet. i'm protected up to about four feet. >> reporter: people plan to return, they just hope they have a home to return to. randall pinkston, cbs news, butte larose, louisiana. >>> now to politics -- the race for the white house instead of heating up seems to be cooling down. two top republican contenders have pulled out. >>> and for other candidates, the big money is coming in, tara mergener, good morning, tara. >>> good morning, betty. yeah. they're going to need that money because this is going to be a very expensive race, a race mike huckabee and donald trump will not be running. the race for the republican presidential nomination is down another contender. >> i will not be running for president as much as i would like to. >> after months of flirting with a bid, donald trump announced monday he's sticking with the world of business. while the billionaire insisted he could have beaten president obama, analysts say his depart