anthony. >> mason: mark strassmann in memphis tonight, thanks, mark. it's not just the mississippi that's flooding. in the northeast heavy rains and snow melt have triggered flooding along lake champagne. surging waters has flooded homes and cottages on the lake's 600-mile shoreline. just ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, seve ballesteros. remembering the passionate play of one of golf's greats. m, there's dulcolax stool softener. dulcolax stool softener doesn't make you go... it just makes it easier to go. dulcolax stool softener. make yourself comfortable. [ female announcer ] little acts like using less material can make a meaningful impact. ♪ because everybody wins when you use less. switch to future friendly products from p&g, like new concentrated tide powder detergent. with 24% less packaging and more stain-fighting power. future friendly from p&g. oh, bayer aspirin? i'm not having a heart attack. it's my back. it works great for pain. [ male announcer ] nothing's proven to relieve pain better than extra strength bayer aspirin. it rushes reli

mark strassmann is in tunica, mississippi, tonight. and, mark, i understand, even the casinos are shut down there. >> reporter: katie, that's one of them behind me. there are nine casinos here in tunica in all, and all of them are closed. once these waters leave, people will come back here, but in some places, there's nothing to return to. >> it's up in there. >> reporter: in greenville, mississippi, the raging river took steve lott's house. he'll rebuild but somewhere else, somewhere inland. >> you see something like that you just kind of want to turn around and go the other way. >> reporter: in mississippi so far, this flood has destroyed at least 800 homes. evacuated residents face a big decision-- where to rebuild? what is it you're looking for right now? >> my home back. >> reporter: betty webb is like everyone at this red cross shelter-- a flooded resident of tunica cutoff, mississippi. 300 swamped homes sat inside the levee, fully exposed to the mississippi. they're all now underwater. melanie delhomme showed us photos of her wa

it's a similar story up river in the town of finley, and mark strassmann is there tonight.rk, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, harry. this is crestview drive. it's underwater and evacuating because of three nearby cresting rivers. it actually goes from bad to worse. the worry is that more water's coming. one dump truck at a time, crews raise this entire levee. 18 inches higher could make the difference. just like these inmates filling sandbags. all to help hold back the bloated mississippi. cody rodriguez knows the stakes. he helped build this five-foot levee around his grandmother's house. floodwaters swallowed it. >> we pretty much lived here 24 hours a day to save it there's only so much you can do. >> reporter: for this house and so many others it's too late. the mississippi-- a mile that way and 11 feet above flood stage and rising-- keeps pushing all this water where no one wants it to go. compare nasa's satellite images. the region's rivers at normal levs last year and now. water seeping from banks and levees all over. river levels higher than the great flood

mark strassmann is there tonight. mark, the flooding in memphis may not get any worse but i understand it won't get better any time soon, either. >> reporter: it's going to linger here, katie. this was no flash flood and it's going to be no flash disaster, either. the misery will last long after the waters leave. the mississippi has leveled off here. >> what a relief that one was. >> reporter: but this crisis has yet to crest for flood victims like diane white in north memphis. >> i've never been through anything like this. a whole neighborhood devastating. things you see on t.v. you never think it will happen to you. >> reporter: the good news: most of this city-- build on a series of bluffs-- sits untouched and where waters pressured levees, the levees held. >> we'll see seepage as the river stays high. there is no risk of over-topping of any levees or flood walls. >> reporter: but in this swamped neighborhood... >> everyone's going to have to start over. >> reporter: ...sergeant chuck mays patrol patrols 12 feet of

mark strassmann is in memphis tonight. mark, hundreds of people have already been evacuated. >> reporter: and more will get out tonight katie. this street is a snapshot of why. riverside drive in downtown memphis, no longer beside the river, but in it. hour by hour through jittery memphis the mississippi is a rising threat. >> only a few feet between the river and the interstate. >> reporter: a river now three miles wide in some spots, six times its typical width. in south memphis, danny lee mitchell wades through his basement. but he's staying put-- more afraid of looters. >> we got two evacuation notices but, you know, you have to think for yourself. >> reporter: mitchell is exactly what emergency leaders don't want-- holdouts in harm's way with the river cresting within hours. in neighborhoods like this one where you can only see the roof tops, the misery is rising with the water. the mississippi will crest for as long as a week so it could be two weeks before all this water goes away. in memphis, the focus is on three

>> couric: mark strassmann. mark, thanks so much. downriver, a system of failsafes is supposed to protect major cities from the threat of flooding. today the army corps of engineers opened more of the bonnet carre spillway north of new orleans and it's considering doing the same at the morganza spillway near baton rouge. dean reynolds on how these spillways work. >> reporter: in butte larosa, louisiana, duane ferrell is gathering up what he wants and leaving the rest to the floodwaters about to inundate his home. >> there's nothing we can do about it. get our stuff out and hope for the best. >> reporter: his property lies two football fields from the atchafalaya river, where the water is over its banks and up in the trees. perhaps as early as saturday the army corps of engineers will open the spillway at morganza, an hour's drive away, to relieve pressure from the bulging mississippi river as it rolls south. >> we're doing everything that we can to take that excess water off of the river and take the stress off of the levee systems.

mark strassmann. mark, thank you. >>> many high profile republican contenders skipped the party's debate last night. the first of the 2012 campaign. so how did things go? cbs news political correspondent jan crawford is in greenville, south carolina, with more on that. jan, good morning to you. >> good morning, jeff. you know, this was supposed to be the first big presidential debate when all those top contenders, like you said, took the stage and took each other on. but instead most of those top names stayed away. so a lot of analysts are saying, oh, this thing is just going to be a bust. well, last night here in greenville it was anything but. this debate was lively and these candidates sent a message. they criticized president obama, and they really introduced themselves to the viewers out there across the country. now, at the very top of the debate was president obama and that raid that killed osama bin laden. both former minnesota governor tim pawlenty and former pennsylvania senator rick santoru

mark strassmann is in memphis.morning, so many communities along the river have their piece of this flooding drama. one of them is about an hour's drive south of memphis, tunica, 350 homes completely evacuated, mostly under water. the only living thing we found was a deer stranded on one of the rooftops. these folks do not have flood insurance. here's the kicker. the building regulations have changed since most of those homes were built and the worry about many communities is they will not be allowed to rebuild. they're worried that their community will literally be flooded off the map, that many other communities can rebuild. the question in kuhn ka is whether they're going to be allowed to. >> mark, thanks very much in memphis. >>> one of osama bin laden's sons says his father should have been captured and given a fair trial. omar bin laden complains his father's body was not rushed to the family. the father and son were estranged. >>> an unruly air passenger will face a judge in boston. officials say the man tri

mark strassmann for us this morning. thanks. >>> joining us from memphis, the army corps of engineers commander, colonel vernie reich land jr. colonel, good morning, give us an idea. the situation as it stands this morning, what is your number one priority? >> our number one priority this morning is public safety. that's all we do is make sure we are providing safety too the public and ensuring that the people that live behind our levees are taken care of. >> we heard from a gentlemen in mark's piece who just said he had two evacuation orders and was staying put because he was concerned about looting. are people in general heeding the evacuation orders? >> that is the responsibility of local officials. we provide technical engineering information to shelby county and the city of memphis. they actually issue the evacuation orders. >> the river as we mentioned cresting at just below the historic levels. with the river cresting, this, of course, is really not the end but just beginning of the next phase. we are told this co

mark strassmann at the kennedy center. thank you. of the weather for you. >>> thanks to you. good morning, everyone. the national picture. you can see the middle of the country. semiquiet. partly cloudy skies, gusty winds in portions of the southern >>> thanks so much. that's your latest weather. here's erica. >> thankses. >>> the new wedding movie "bridesmaids" was the number one comedy in america over the weekend. what is it about the wedding movies that we love oh so much. we get to the heart of the matter. >> i'm engaged. >> oh, my god! >> oh, cool! >> it's happening. >> the latest bridal blockbuster to waltz into movie theaters isn't about a bride and groom, but revolves around the equally crucial part of the wedding, the bridesmaids. >> oh, so pretty. >> makes my stomach hurt. >> you look -- >> oh. >> the film follows a main character who bravely tries to celebrate her best friend's life as hers crumble to pieces. >> and at the heart of the story is a realistic lifelong adult friendship. >> will you marry me? >> yes. >> it's mo

mark strassmann in finley, tennessee, thanks a lot. it is now 19 minutes past the hour. time to get the rest of the headlines. for that let's go to cbs news correspondent and "morning news" anchor betty nguyen at the news desk. >> good morning, russ and rebecca. good morning to you at home. violence in syria does continue. this morning, syrian tanks rolled into the mediterranean town of banya in a swift crackdown on anti-government protesters. the assault comes one day after army forces attacked demonstrators in cities across syria. human rights activists say more than two dozen people were killed. but that figure cannot be independently confirmed. the u.s. is pressing the syrian government to end the violence against the protesters. >>> amnesty international, the human rights group, claims libyan forces may have committed war crimes during their two-month siege on the rebel-held city of misrata. the fighting in the city is among the bloodiest in the battle for libya. aid groups estimate hundreds of people have been killed there. amnesty international estimate l libyan f

cbs news correspondent, mark strassmann, is in greenville, mississippi. we join him now. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, chris. the great mississippi flooding has a new target, the mississippi delta, a region that's mostly rural and low income, people least able to recover from a crisis. >> it's up in hair. >> reporter: in greenville, steve lots' house is gone. his neighborhood is a soup of filthy floodwater. >> we knew it was going to be bad but seeing it is different. you kind of see your whole life floating there. >> reporter: north of greenville. >> we love everyone from there. >> reporter: melanie is homeless. this photo shows why. her house ruined like all three homes in tunica, 20 feet of floodwater. with new building codes, rebuilding is unaffordable. tunica cutoff could be gone for good. >> we want to keep our address. >> it's my home. >> reporter: in mississippi alone, floodwaters have destroyed at least 800 homes. most people will rebuild. almost no one in tunica cutoff had flood insurance. they will str to start over somewhere else. >> it is hard to f