in vicksburg, mississippi, i'm martin savidge. back to you. >>> meteorologist jen delgado joins us from the world weather center. >> a very slow process with the river actually cresting in several parts, right along the mississippi river. we are expecting today the river to actually crest in vicksburg. later on this morning and we're talking about 17.4 meters, that's roughly around 57 feet, incredibly high. record levels up and down the mississippi river. it looks like it will stay that way, cresting at least for the next five days. it's going to be dangerously high through many parts along the mississippi river. as we talk more about vicksburg and how it's been affecting the region, how widespread this flooding is. if you want to get an idea of the area affected, we're talking roughly the size of italy. 200,000 square kilometers. typically right along vicksburg, the mississippi river is roughly around 1 kilometer. well, because the flooding is so bad and so widespread, we're talking 40 kilometers wide in some parts. you can see i

so it's all focusing on vicksburg. vicksburg is next under the gun. already, though, heavy flooding. we went on that boat trip. these are suburbs that are found to the north of vicksburg, about five different subdivisions. they're all underwater. 1,700 people have been forced to flee the rising water in the vicksburg area. but hundreds of homes have already fallen victim to it. we went through this neighborhood. and what you find is of course that the water levels have risen to the point of not just to the roof but in many cases over the roof. i looked at the depth finder on the boat we were riding in. we were driving down a city street in vicksburg, and it's 11 feet deep. you went to the next block, it was 15 feet deep. you did see houses that appear to be poking out of the water, but those were built on stilts, and again, like we've seen elsewhere the owners thought they had built them so high they would never, ever flood, but this is the year that never, ever went out the window. anderson? >> martin, what's that behind you? >> reporter: let me show

vicksburg, your crest will occur l theired. michez after that. back to you, lester. >> see you then. thanks. >> let's get a check of this morning's other top stories. for that we'll head to the news .esk with thomas roberts. >> hi, good morning to you. ood morning, everybody. atioegin with the arrest of the international monetary fund chief on charges of sexually attacking a maid at a morning city hotel. we have more on this story for you. >> well, this news has struck like a thunderbolt in france and around the world. a wealthy and incredibly influential man hauled from the first class cabin of a plane at jfk before takeoff yesterday and then accused of sexual assault in a luxury hotel. he 52-year-old is being questioned by the nypd, but it's claimed he walked naked from a hotel bathroom, attacked a t-year-old maid, throwing her down, then fled for the airport leaving his wallet and cell phone. asething he is denying this morning. >> you point out this is an international story. us those of us here in the ant es we may not know how as irtant thi

holly firfer is live in vicksburg with more on this. good morning, holly. >> reporter: good morning. yeah. i'm standing in a parking lot believe it or not close to shore here in vicksburg. the water is already about 5 feet above flood stage. and as you said, it's not expected to crest here until next thursday. the swollen mississippi is continuing its relentless flow south. in its crosshairs an area far too familiar with damaging natural disasters. in louisiana, memories of hurricane katrina are still fresh, officials are faced with a difficult decision. opening the spillway could spare baton rouge and new orleans from damage but would flood another area of the basin. >> our hearts go out everybody to downstream. this is monumental water. never been seen before. >> reporter: the spillway will open if the river's flow reaches 1.5 million cubic feet of water per second. it is currently flowing at 1.36 million cubic feet per second. governor jindal advises residents to plan ahead. >> my advice to our people is act as if the spillway, the c

holly firfer reports from vicksburg. >> reporter: good morning. i'm standing in yet another parking lot that's been flooded here in vicksburg along the mississippi river. we're already about 5 feet above flood stage. and as you mentioned, it's not expected to crest at a record high until next thursday. >>> reporter: the swollen mississippi is continuing its relentless flow south. in its crosshairs an area far too familiar with damaging natural disasters. in louisiana, where memories of the floods caused by hurricane katrina are still fresh, officials are faced with a difficult decision. opening the morgan safety officials spillway could spar baton rouge and new orleans from damage but would flood pap late areas in the afternoon fa lie yeah basin. >> our hearts go out to everybody downstream. this is monumental water never been seen before. >> reporter: the spillway will open if it reaches at a certain million cubic feet per second. >> our advice is act as if the spillway, act as if the corps is going top of the spillway. the best thing to do is to

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nbc's thanh truong reports tonight from historic vicksburg, mississippi. >> reporter: at the junction of the mississippi and yazoo rivers, golden barge line has been in business close to 50 years. a river company now on an island because of severe flooding. >> we knew it was going to be bad. >> reporter: austin golding now navigates his boat across what used to be the parking lot of his family's business in vicksburg, mississippi. >> it is pretty surreal. i never thought i would see water this high. i don't think anybody in this town thought they would see water this high. >> reporter: golding is a third-generation river rider. his grandfather started the barge company in the 1960s with just a handful of boats. today, golding moves millions of barrels of gas and diesel up and down the mississippi. >> not many people wake up and want to be a tow-boaters. it's a 24/7 job. you have to know what you're getting into. >> reporter: golding knows what he's getting in. relying on the river has its rewards and risks. >> it's just a way of life. this river gives a lot of people their living and

martin savidge is live with me in vicksburg. it looks like you're sitting in in front of a movie set when in actuality this is all too real for those in mississippi. >> reporter: it certainly is. vicksburg is a beautiful old city. the water is continuing to rise and that's the concern here. it's not expected to crest until later in the week. maybe another foot to go. we went on a boat ride today, thanks to the sheriff with warren county sheriff's department. he showed us some subdivisions located to the north of town. the images that we saw were really quite striking. so many homes, over 100 under water. sometimes the water is all the way up to the roof and in other cases you've seen homes sticking out of the water and that's not that bad. those are up on stilts and they, too, have water in them. another foot to go. so even though they thought they built them to the point where they could never get flooded, they have been flooded. there are hundreds of homes and essentially about 1700 people forced to flee the rising waters. the

a lot of people have just moved to other homes in vicksburg which is about 25 miles south of vicksburg. >> this is a very unique community. you said it's a retirement community. does that make it harder for people to cope with a disaster like this, are there unique problems that they're going through right now? >> yes, it is. yes, it is. >> you can describe for me what some of the residents are telling you? >> the residents rely on me because i did work for the corps of engineers and i can talk to the co rcht ps. they're very -- they talk to me a lot. i talk to them. and they update me daily on what's going on and people know that at eagle lake and they let me know what's going on. and when they hear rumor, they call me and that's what a lot of people moved out. and i calmed them down a lot. >> and what do they tell you that they need the most right now? >> right now they want to move back home. a lot of them are scared. they're older. they want to be safe again. >> and finally, bette, are you living with relatives, are you able to stay in the community? how are you doing? >> i'm livin

parts of vicksburg, mississippi, been under water since last week. according to one estimate the flooding could cast $9 billion. we'll have a live update from mississippi coming up at 5:45 this morning. >>> well, they had them for earthquakes and today the california geological survey will release its latest map pointing out the state's landslide danger zones. show which areas are most vulnerable to destructive walls of mud. the agency has been required to release this map ever since the disastrous el nino storms barred california in the early 1980s. >>> dozens of people turned out in san francisco to complain about what they call racial profiling by police officers. >> what they need to realize is that there needs to be a level of trust with these communities that currently doesn't exist in san francisco. >> human rights groups say san francisco police officers assigned to the f.b.i.'s terrorism task force frequently circumvent local laws. chief suhr wants to remind officers local laws trump federal policies. >>> in a separate issue the chief says h

al roker reports live from vicksburg, mississippi, as flood waters rush farther south. and meredith vieira is live from the french riviera talk, antonio bandarres and selma hyack about their debut at the film festival. >>> now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

we're already five feet above flood stage in vicksburg. across the south the mississippi driver continues to threaten homes and businesses. the u.s. army corp of engineers opened 113 more bays on the spillway thursday to divert rising water into the lake. sending millions of gallons of spill water into the base son. residents are already being urged to make evacuation plans. >> the decision to open the floodway could be any time between saturday and tuesday. we continue to ask the corp at least three days notification. >> reporter: in arkansas the estimated damage to the state's agriculture could top half a -- >> it's total input that i've got to make up somewhere else of $10,000 to $15,000. >> reporter: 800 to 1,000 properties have been effected. many that are still in their homes could be without electricity for several more days. in mississippi engineers are working tirelessly to shore up levies across the state in a desperate race against time. and here in vicksburg about 600 residents have been evacuated. more than two dozen roads and

. >>> the flooding broke a record in vicksburg, mississippi. cresting one foot higher than the epic 1927 flood. the levee north of vicksburg in the town of redwood is causing engineers a whole lot of concerned. brian todd is there as crews try to shore it up. brian, can they keep the levee from breaking? >> reporter: they don't know yet, don. they're trying to do that very frantically right now. that's a levee not far from where we are. we're in redwood where the roads are closed. this road is completelyinate under water. this is an off ramp, and our photojournalist is going to pan to his right and my left where you can see the flooding goes on for miles. that levee is in lake albamor not far from here. it's experienced a slide, which means the underpinnings of the levee has been compromised. the weight has been so forceful that it's pushed some of the mud, the sand about five feet in the underpinnings. some of the water is seeping through. we saw it earlier. one of the officials here, peter nimrod of the levee board, told us if that levee fail

mark strassmann is in vicksburg, mississippi, tonight. mark, i understand some communities are a losing what little they have. >> reporter: katie, these are folks by and large who have no place to go but a shelter. that is the now massive mississippi behind me, up another foot here in just the last 24 hours. flooding has now reached the mississippi delta and people who can least afford it. >> it's a struggle. it's a struggle. >> reporter: gloria king's stunned. her home disappearing in rising water. >> who would think the water would get this far up? >> reporter: this vicksburg neighborhood is called king's community. low-lying, low-income and sinking from sight. one of its streets yesterday. that same street today. >> i hate to even look at it. >> reporter: william jefferson paddled us to this house, his home since 1968. >> well, when that's all you have, you know? it hurts. >> reporter: just in mississippi, $275 million is a conservative estimate of total damages. $150 million to farms, $50 million businesses, $75 million homes and prop

you can see vicksburg. it's crested but it's still almost 14 feet above flood stage, so we still have lot of high water making its way downstream. we're cresting in baton rouge and new orleans. new orleans is at 17 feet and that's because they're opralting the spillway, diverting the water, down through the atchafalaya, and that's why things are steady there. that's a manmade thing because of what they did by opening up the gates. we had record volume of water moving through the areas late last week. the crest has happened. i thing this is the peak. we're starting to wane off now, but we're not out of the woods just yet. why is that? a couple different things. one of which is we're still looking at flooding going on into the middle miss miss river valley. in cape girardeau, you're above flood stage. there's still high water all over the place. as long as the levees hold, we'll be okay, but that's a lot of pressure. in addition to that, the threat of rain. unfortunately in the next five days, 3 to 6 inches i

the mississippi river here in vicksburg is expected to crest on thursday at a record-setting 57.5 feet. that's at least another foot of water on top of what we're seeing, but for the families already flooded, brian, those numbers are just academics. >> thanh truong and anne thompson before that, part of the team covering the flooding in the south. thanks to you both. >>> now to a stunning arrest in new york city over the weekend. one of the most powerful bankers in the world, the head of the international monetary fund, which gives help to countries in financial crisis, is in jail here in new york tonight, charged with violent sex crimes at a manhattan hotel. he was a favorite in the french presidential elections where this news has gone off like a bomb. our report tonight from nbc's jeff rossen. >> dominique strauss kahn. step up. >> reporter: there he was, one of the world's most powerful men, disheveled, unshaven, and facing felonies. dominique strauss kahn, head of the international monetary fund, the imf, and french politician, now charged with violent sex crimes against a maid in

if the levees hold, vicksburg could lose $2 million in drops. the next crest will be in louisiana. >>> a major concern up and down that river. water contamination. steve osunsami tested the water in memphis. >> reporter: we're outside a memphis school because this is one of the locations where we tested the water. health officials have been encouraging residents to stay away from the water, saying it's too dangerous. and we found out why. we tested the water here and in south memphis. while we found no evidence of pesticides or met talls. we found that the levels of e. coli, and bacteria, is 2,000 times above any acceptable limits. residents we talked with who we shared this with were obviously very upset. we're being told that any homeowners coming in contact with this should shower immediately. and that homes will have to be decontaminated because of this water exposure. steve osunsami, abc news, memphis. >>> and yet another consideration, all that standing water could stick around for weeks and also turn into a perfect breeding ground for mos

such a slow process that even vicksburg, it's going to take you until the 20th. we expect you to have your number one all-time crest. we're talking serious stuff here on the mississippi river. now, as far as the weather today and preparing you for your day, wet weather, kind of -- rather cloudy and dreary in northern new england. also some heavy rain going through minnesota into the minneapolis area. also around st. paul we've had a gool deal of rain overnight and that continues this morning and that will continue to push into northern wisconsin during the day today. as far as your forecast goes for your thursday, not bad around new york, philadelphia, also d.c., but it will be breezy. like a fall feeling to the air. and the southeast, gorgeous day for you. slight chance of storms this afternoon. chicago and kansas city and st. louis, really shouldn't ruin your day. it will be in and out in a hurry. also, dallas, 80 degrees today. beautiful for you. we don't have a lot of travel trouble out there, lynn. actually, no tornadoes in the forecast, no severe weather. j

it may -- >> reporter: history follows the mississippi here as she winds her way next to vicksburg. once the site of a civil war battle, now home to casinos. in all, 19 casinos should shut down along the mississippi. closings that mean tax. and it's flooded homes and closed down streets. >> i don't know. i'm running from the water. staying one step ahead of it. as long asky get out of bed and get more than my feet wet, i will just move on and wait and get there and move to the next one. >> reporter: a game that everyone here seems to be playing, trying to outrun the mighty mississippi as she rushing forward. more "nightline," i'm jim avila, in tunica mississippi. >> the river is expected to hit record levels in the south. a high of 57 feet in vicksburg before cresting in new orleans on may 24th two weeks from today. >>> next "entertainment tonight's" mary hart. how does she make it look so easy and stay looking so good? in the past, when we thought about computing, we thought about boxes. on a smarter planet, computing has left the box. generating 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every

dump trucks and bulldozers are the heavy artillery in today's battle for vicksburg, as crews add six inches of dirt to the backwater levee, where the mississippi has pushed into the swollen yazoo river and is climbing. how fast is this water rising? >> on the gauge the average here has been about a foot a day. >> reporter: today in vicksburg the river is moving at 1.8 million cubic feet a second, so fast it could fill louisiana's superdome in just 30 seconds. and it's expected to rise another five feet before crest next week. that means the river will run over this levee. so crews are reinforcing it with five miles of black plastic sheeting. >> it will protect the land from being washed away. it will shed the water off without it eroding the soil behind it. >> reporter: there are more than 2,000 miles of levee systems along the mississippi. the most common are earthen levees and flood walls. the earthen levees are made of clay, sand, or soil and can be up to 100 feet wide and up to 30 feet tall. other parts of the river are protected by flood walls, most commonly made of concrete, st

vicksburg, that's where martin is. you can see 14.5 feet is where it's supposed to reach above flood stage on thursday. we have a long way to go and it's already at the record. it's beaten the record. red river landing 16.5 feet on may 22nd. we are talking seven to ten days from now. look at new orleans. look at that. it's cresting. why is it cresting? because we have opened the spillway. the big thing then, we'll show you on the graphic. there it is. the river gauge at new orleans saying it's cresting. this is a manmade controlled crest. not a natural crest like what's going on up in arkansas city. here is the 17 feet. the forecast brings you out five days showing it stays at that 17 feet. it's based on controlling and opening up more spillway gates as necessary in the weeks ahead. keep in mind, you know, they are being pushed to the limit at 17 feet as well. it's right at flood stage. as long as everything operates like it's supposed to, it's going to be okay. any fan boil that could occur or breakdown in the levee s

northed of vicksburg a levee protecting thousands of acres of farmland is expected to prevent widespread flooding. down river in louisiana, mandatory evacuations are in effect in areas being flooded as more gates of the morganza spillway are old. >> we're look at a much better day around the bay area. we are going to see more sunshine. the temperatures are going to warm up. >>> we are starting out with a couple of patches of fog this morning. out the door, watch out for that. 50s and 40s at this hour. by the afternoon, sunshine and temperatures into the 70s in many spots inland by the afternoon. inside the bay warmer, 60s with mild conditions. and at the coast, a mix of sun and clouds. and some breezy conditions. finally getting this low kicking to the east and that means we are going to dry out nicely across the state at least for a couple of days. there is a system that's a little further off that will affect our weekend. but let's enjoy these next couple of days as the ridge builds in nicely to bring mild temperatures outside and it looks like it's going to hold that system at bay unt

here in vicksburg, we expect the flood stage between 56.5 and 57.5. a foot to two feet above the record. in fact, in you look back there, those fence posts, just beyond it is the mississippi. by the weekend the fence posts will be gone. you will see for today we have a risk of strong storms making their way from texas to the mid plains. rain in the pacific northwest. sunshine in the northeast. bad news for tomorrow. the risk of storms moves into the mississippi river valley which wille put more stress and heavy thunderstorms on the river. the levees downstream. that's bad news. clouds and showers in the pacific northwest. sunny and hot in the south. sunshine up and down the eastern seaboard. hot in the southeast with record-breaking temperatures. >>> well, we have some thick fog, especially over the open water. the bridges this morning, socked in. watch out for that. later today, the sun over the bay area and warm us up into low 70s and upper 60s. a nice second half of the wednesday. and then things start to turn south getting closer to the weekend. r

it's expected to reach its high mark in vicksburg, mississippi, a week from tomorrow, baton rouge may 22nd, new orleans a day later. joel brown has our report from near vicksburg. >> reporter: the swollen mississippi river is washing away crops and swamping homes. >> our whole neighborhood devastated. >> reporter: floodwaters crept right up to diane white's front door. >> things you see on tv you never think it will happen to you. >> reporter: she's one of hundreds of north memphis residents forced from their homes, but when the mississippi reached its nearly 48-foot crest there, the levees held. downtown memphis and the city's major landmarks are staying dry. now the disaster is slowly making its way downstream. the water on the inis miss is so high right now it's spilling into the yazu river. several homes are underwater, more flooding is expected and farmers are bracing for the worst. in tunica cutoff, mississippi, floodwaters left this deer stranded on a rooftop. all 350 homes in the community are underwater, including charlotte smith's. >> i just really am in bad shape but not ad

karen brown reports. >> reporter: just south of vicksburg, what was once a neighborhood -- >> this is my aunt's front yard, actually, right now. >> reporter: is now a sea of sunken houses. >> i hate to see my family or anybody go through this. >> reporter: a boat is the only way that austin and his extended family can get to their homes. >> this right here is the -- is her play room right here. >> reporter: two of them are already destroyed, including his aunt debbie's. record-setting floodwaters broke through a levee they had specially built. >> we're going to have to restart everything. >> reporter: 2,000 people in the area have been displaced. i am standing on austin's front steps, and the only reason that his parents' home is not under water is because they raised it up on eight feet of cinder blocks. now the mississippi is not expected to crest here until tomorrow. and it's already 14 feet above flood levels. most of the levees lining the mississippi are holding. including those in natchez, where the river has been reopened to critical cargo traffic. but water is backing up in it

here are some pictures from vicksburg, about 80 miles down river. they're not expected to see the crest until thursday. i believe it's going to be about 57.5 feet. already, they are suffering down there, a lot of flooding, especially the businesses along the banks of the mississippi river and a number of homes. as you pointed out, the tributaries as well, not just the mississippi are backed up. that's causing a lot of flood damage, especially in agriculture. you have three million acres in four states, arkansas alone saying it's got half a billion in damage to the crops down there. fredicka, we want to give a shout-out to two guys who have a very long way to go. these two fellows we found on the levee. they were by moon landing. they work for the army core of engineering. it's their job to follow the crest along stream. they started in illinois weeks ago. they made it down far, moving it at about four miles an hour. they stop every half hour, take a measurement, gather the data and transmit it so everyone else knows where the crest is. they will do

further south, communities like vicksburg, mississippi, are preparing and there are already homes under water there, whole neighborhoods under water and vicksburg won't feel the brunt of this until the weekend where the river will peak. in louisiana, we see prison inmates help prepare sandbags as they shore up their flood defenses there and those scenes are being repeated all the way along the flow of the river. >> steve kingston, you're watching bbc news. still ahead, a call for the art world to close its doors for a day to protest against the detention of the chinese artist ai weiwei. here in the u.k., levi bellfield, a convicted double killer has gone on trial accused of murdering the school girl millie dowler and disappeared nine years ago when she walked home from school. her body was found in woods in hampshire six months later. bellfield pleaded not guilty to murder and kidnap. >> an ordinary 13-year-old who would have been a fine young woman, the words of the prosecution as they outlined the case against the man who they say abducted and murdered her. the jury heard levi bellfie

we barrel south on the mississippi as the floods head toward vicksburg. houses caught in the deluge, and we test the toxins in that water. as we look back at the last big one in 1927. >>> son of bin laden. omar bin laden speaks out about his father's death, as bin laden's wives get ready to face u.s. interrogators. >>> the bravest woman in mexico. the 20-year-old mother who tried to bring justice to the border. we find her and learn why she had to flee. >>> and, change your life. a simple, proven secret for health and success? we'll show you what so many people have started to do. >>> good evening. there are now 4 million people down river from memphis, bracing and beginning their long wait tonight for the giant mississippi to arrive and tell them how bad it's going to be. we just returned from memphis this afternoon, where we waded into those waters. and there is news tonight that the river did crest, just under 48 feet, which is just shy of the record. and the swollen water is still pushing at the levees, but those leaks underneath, we showed you, those

and you are looking at a live picture from vicksburg right now. this museum was on the wrong side of that wall. you can see what happened there. look at the river rising. upriver, of course, from memphis, there have been fear about the toxins in the water. our steve osunsami decided to test them and the results are in tonight. steve, what did you find? >> reporter: well, good evening, diane. we are at the memphis school that you visited on monday. and the reason that we're here, this is one of the places where we tested the water. health officials had been warning residents to get out of the water, to stay clear of it, unless they are protected. and we found out why today. the results of our test were troubling. >> it's very nasty. it's very nasty. >> reporter: families across memphis told us they're afraid of the sludge-filled floodwaters that have poured into their homes and were curdling today in the 90-degree heat. >> i'm not scared of the snakes. i'm scared of the water. >> filthy. scary filthy. >> reporter: today, we found out for sure, we h

the mississippi river is expected to crest in vicksburg, a week from today. more than a foot above the 1927 record. more than a dozen casinos have been shut down, impacting thousands of workers. downstream another spillway could be opened to relieve pressure on levees. >> will be watching that for another two weeks. not expected to crest in new orleans until may 24th, at least right now. so days more to continue to watch that. >> the casinos, all of those jobs. >> some lost revenue. >>> here's your thursday forecast now. thunderstorms from minneapolis, down to memphis. another stormy day from texas to iowa with hail, gusty winds and heavy rain. mountain snow in western colorado and the northern rockies. >> 57 degrees in seattle. 75 in boise. 91 in phoenix. mostly 80s from dallas up to detroit. 90 in atlanta. 71 here in new york and 63 in boston. >>> she has set broadcasting records, amassed a fortune and won countless awards and now oprah winfrey has her very own street. >> just a street. she deserves more than that. chicago mayor daley has renamed the block

another two feet of water here in vicksburg. right now i'm up on a bluff, but there are businesses and casinos down there right along the riverfront. if these levees give way and we're seeing some leakage, if they do give way we'll see water almost all the way up to the hill where i am. back to you guys. >> wow, it's just painful to watch with that community is enduring. thank you for the update. >>> we are learning more about the items confiscated from osama bin , including a pornography stash. two u.s. officials now say that was among the items seized when u.s. navy seals raided the hideout two weeks ago. it's not clear who the pornography belongs to but bin laden did live at the compound with his son and two other male couriers. other items seized include a handwritten journal, five computers, 10 hard drivers and 110 thumb drivers. >>> bay area travelers flying into los angeles may notice new security, all thanks to four- legged friends. bomb-sniffing dogs are now on patrol at the airport, but they are unlike any other dogs u

a 69-year-old vicksburg man drowned. he was found clinging to a fence, but rescuers couldn't get to him in time to save his life. >>> here in california, talk about scorched earth. a refueling tanker, an old 707, flown by a navy contractor, crashed on takeoff last night, sparking a massive fire. took hours to put it out. the three crew members up front were not badly hurt. a spokesman at the navy base called that a miracle. >>> also news here in southern california today about the big story here of late, arnold schwarzenegger put out a statement today saying he's putting his planned return to the movie business on hold. earlier this week, the former governor admitted he fathered a child with a member of his household staff. in the statement today, he said he's focusing on personal matters now and will not commit to any movie production schedules. >>> when we come back from los angeles after a break, an nbc news exclusive. we're there as the bust takes place. and we'll tell you why what you're about to see is unique. >>>

what is happening there in vicksburg where you are? >> reporter: they are anxiously awaiting that crest. it's expected to come mid-morning tomorrow. but it continues to lay siege to a number of neighborhoods. we're in the latest one here. this is located in south vicksburg and it just continues to encroach upon these neighborhoods, especially areas where people thought they they would be all right. the homes are raised and you can see that they are right at floor level when it comes to the water and unfortunately it probably has another five, six inches to go. those homes are probably not going to make it. however, if you look out, some of the homes are in better shape than others. there is one in the distance. whal is interesting is that maybe you can make that out by the front door, they have a boat that they pulled themselves to shore. talk about a daily commute. this is different for the community here. they continue to be aware that this water is still rising. they hope it's not going to go too much farther. quite frankly, tomorro

vicksburg, mississippi. but forecasters now say the crest was not quite as hig expect >>> the mississippi has reached record levels in vicksburg but the crest is not quite as high as expected. north of vicksburg a levee protecting thousands of acres of farmland is expected to prevent widespread flooding but down river in louisiana, mandatory evacuations are in effect in areas being flooded as more gates at the morganza spillway are opened. >> back here in the bay area we have some more sunshine coming our way. temperatures are going to be warming up today. couple of patches of fog out the door this morning but boy, these numbers running in the 40s and 50s. by the afternoon it will be spectacular. lots of 70s very comfortable toward the afternoon and much warmer than yesterday. a lot of 60s inside the bay with sunny skies, breezy conditions, couple of patches of fog on the coastline otherwise looking good. this area of low pressure brought us rain yesterday is heading eastward. you can see in nevada, colorado

it crested one foot higher than the epic 1927 flood in vicksburg. a levee near the town of redwood is causing engineers a whole lot of concern, and cnn's brian todd is there as crews try to shore it up. >> reporter: it would be beautiful if it weren't so dangerous. floodwaters of the mississippi river have engulfed a lake and are threatening this crucial levee. they've caused what officials say is a 200-foot slide where the sheer pressure, the weight of the water, has saturated the underpinnings of the levee and shifted the earth underneath. we're in the middle of a key break, where the erosion has caused the slide of at least five feet from that level down here. you can see the seepage, very slow. it creeps down here, but very dangerous. this is what they're frantically trying to fill. the backhoes over here and tractor here just trying to shovel gravel to fill the gaps. it's not technically a breach, but that could happen. so the army corps of jers rushed in dozens of dump trucks full of gravel. crews on backhoes and bulldozers worked 24/7 to shor

if you move up to the roof tops around vicksburg, mississippi tonight, and the river is not expected to crest there for several more day, martin savidge spent the day in vicksburg which has never, never seen flooding like this. >> reporter: john, you're absolutely right. this is the next city that will feel the brunt of this historic flood that is coming down the mississippi. take a look at this. this is a beautiful old historic southern town. this is some of the great architecture you would see. the 1902 railroad station. look at the water right up to the front doors. this is the flooding. let's show you what they're doing to prevent it from getting any worse down here. it is really quite a remarkable engineering feat that they've had to put together in a real hurry. this water came up -- they had warning, but the water came up in the last ten days. look at the construction they've had to build here. the question is will it be enough to hold? basically an old fashioned dike system put together with railroad ties, tar in between. you got these huge steel girders here that are literal

the national weather service projected the river won't crest at vicksburg until may 19. at baton rouge louisiana on may 23. records that go back more than 80 years are expected to be broken. the u.s. army corps of engineers had already opened a spill way to ease pressure on the levees of new orleans. the water was being diverted into lake ponchartrain. >> we've all lived through katrina. we've seen systems that were supposed to work that didn't work. it's good to get ready for that and is responsible to get ready for that. >> brown: the army corps has sought permission to open a second spill way, this one north of baton rouge, for the first time since 1973. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour, a renewed push on immigration reform; the politics of the debt ceiling; china's human rights record; ukraine's orange revolution nearly eight years later; and the microsoft- skype deal. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: the heaviest bombing in weeks struck the capital of libya today. nato said its warplanes attacked a command cent

that is about 70 miles south of vicksburg. some people have even built levees around their homes now turning them virtually into islands. our martin savidge is on one of those islands in yazoo county, mississippi. just give us a sense, what is it like out there? are people panicking? what are you seeing? >> reporter: nope, no panic here. welcome to heapart island, essentially. out there it should be acre after acre of cotton. i'm declaring it heart lake. though that is water from the yazoo and mississippi river. that had completely surrounded not only this home but every other home that is out here. the difference of course is that this family is deciding not to take flooding lying down. take a look at the house over there. that actually belongs to todd hart. his home is surrounded by an earthen levee. it is probably about 12 feet high and it is keeping his home completely dry despite the fact the water's all around it. then take a look at what we're standing on here. it would make the army corp of engineers jealous. the famil

it could be weeks before floodwaters recede in vicksburg, mississippi. their mississippi river crested there 14 feet above flood stage. >>> and expect more tearful testimony today from nancy kerrigan's mother. she defended her son who is now on trial for manslaughter near boston. prosecutors say mark kerrigan is responsible for his father's death because at the time, mark, they say, was drunk and he and his dad were arguing. >>> also queen elizabeth's historic trip to dublin ends today, but she'll continue her state tour elsewhere in ireland. >>> finally this half hour let's just call this guy, determination personified. >> those closest to him know him by another simpler name, superman. our dr. richard besser shows us why. >> reporter: what you're witnessing is groundbreaking. rob summers making history by standing up. to understand just how incredible this moment is, you have to go back to a summer night in 2006 when rob, a baseball player nicknamed superman, met tragedy. >> i was playing the best i ever had and was hit by a car in a hit and run while

vicksburg, mississippi, is waiting for the floodwaters to crest, and that's expected to happen there later this week. a stretch of the mississippi river was closed on tuesday, and there are complications at ports in louisiana that could impact shipping. let's go to the latest. this story has been running for weeks now, jen. i don't know what to say. basically we just have to wait for the waters there to move down the mississippi and just create destruction all the way down. >> yeah, absolutely. it is a slow-moving problem. we're going to continue to see the river cresting in locations as we go through the remainder of this week and potentially into saturday and the water levels are going to remain potentially high for about a month you. mentioned how the u.s. is recovering and really dealing with the wheat industry. we're also going to talk about how the high level of the mississippi's also affecting the economy. we're talking about the transport. roughly 500 million tons of cargo actually moved along the mississippi river. as you mentioned, part of the mississippi river was closed y

further upstream, people are anxiously awaiting a levee near vicksburg, mississippi. floodwaters are inching toward the top. if it goes, if the levee completely demolishes, it would be catastrophic. martin, tell me what the concerns are there. >> reporter: well, this may look like a simple gravel road in the middle of nowhere. this is at the top of the a levee. of all the hundreds of miles of levees in the state of mississippi holding back the historic flood, this is the most critical levee. this is the levee's most crucial moment. let me explain why. the water from the yazoo river backed up miles and miles. on this side, it's dry. the difference between the two is 125 feet. this levee is holding back 15 feet of water. here is the concern. there's one foot left of free space. the water will go over the levee and over top it. that's not the end of the world. levees are designed for some of that. if it erodes the levee, that is disastrous. how bad would that be? it's the question we put to peter. here is what he said. >> if the levee were to fail, what are the consequen

. >> the mississippi river is expected to crest at vicksburg, mississippi in the next 24 hours, a few inches lower than the army corps of engineers predicted. further down the river it seems that everything that can be done is being done to shore up levees. damage estimates are at $7 million. >> rain clouds finally moving out. more sunshine for today and also over the next couple of days. we still have some patchy fog to talk about first thing tomorrow morning. we still have some lingering rain showers to the north and east of the bay area. cranes guys out there. we can show you this. we have mostly clear skies in san francisco. a bit of a breeze with winds around 15-20 miles per hour. partly cloudy and still breezy out there. we will buck up those numbers for thursday and friday. for the weekend we have a few clouds and temperatures will be cooling off. most locations will be in the lower 40s. hayward at 49 and san jose at 48 degrees. this is the storm system we have been talking about over the past few days. it is moving out to the east we will have some patchy morning fog. most are

the mississippi river has reached a record level at vicksburg. but the good news, the high water isn't not expected to top the levee. >>> and how about this? a scene from louisiana. check it out. four deer sprinting through a flooded meadow. the photographer says all four later got out of the water safely. >>> all right, folks. just getting going? we have a nice day coming up weather-wise. we have a lot of sunshine showing up now just a couple of patches of fog. chopper 5 up. you can see the fog bank looking towards sutro tower and we are going to see a couple of lingering clouds at the coastline but most of the bay area we are talking about sunshine and no rain to worry about for today. so we have some great weather coming our way today and looks like nice weather over the next couple of days. out the door still cool in spots. 40s and 50s. this afternoon here comes the sunshine and the temperatures warming up into the 70s inland. going to be mild inside the bay well into the 60s in many spots. out at the coastline couple of patches of fog 50s an

take a look at vicksburg. we have crested here. but the river remains 13.8 feet above flood stage. 14.8 feet above flood stage at red river landing -- i cannot say that one, can't i -- natchez, 13.7 feet above flood stage. baton rouge cresting at 9.7 above and holding at 17 feet now in new orleans. hopefully we'll continue to maintain this as we look ahead, fredicka. there is rain in the forecast. some of that could be heavy. specifically talking about the missouri -- middle mississippi as well as the ohio river valleys. we'll talk a little more about that, tell you how much rain we're expecting and what kind of an impact it could have on that river in about half an hour. >> thanks so much, jacqui. >>> other headlines we're following. in oklahoma a manhunt is under way for two men wanted for shooting an off-duty sheriff's deputy. police say the officer was working at a security guard at a restaurant and was walking to a bank when he was shot in the head. the shooting was caught on videotape which may help identify the attackers. th