photos michael jackson wanted to have destroyed. good evening everyone. i'm don lemon. the news starts right now. the legendary mississippi river is rewriting history tonight. for the first time in nearly 40 years the morganza spillways a opened today to divert the swollen river into the atchafalaya basin. it's a pressure valve to relieve the threat of flooding in beige and new orleans, but it means tiny communities could be under many feet of water and force thousands of people from their homes. this is what it looked like back in 1973. the one and only time this spillway had to be opened. the fact this spillway has not been opened in four decades underscores how serious this situation has become. for the next hour we'll be joined by general rousel honore, a hydrologist and key correspondents. we want to get to ed lavandera wh was there when the spillway was opened earlier this afternoon. >> reporter: don, the first gate of the morganza spillway has been opened. you can see the water gushing out through that first gate, halfway down this morganza flood control structure. there are 125 gates. for now only one has been opened. officials say they will continue to open up more in the coming days. for right now they are trying to slow down this process. you can already see the water making its way into this area that was just a big grassy area. the reason they are doing it very slowly is to give the wildlife and animals a chance to adjust to the vast amount of water that will soon be pouring through here. you can see the amount of water gushing through. all of this has to do with the amount of pressure that has been building up along the mississippi river. the trigger number that officials have been looking at is 1.5 million cubic feet of water per second. that's the amount of pressure that's been building along the mississippi river. anything more than that is simply too treacherous for the levee systems between baton rouge and new orleans. they need to lower that pressure. anything more than that can compromise those lev yes systems. right now they are more at 1.6 million cubic pressure per water. that's simply too much. officials here say they will not need to use all of the gates. all of this capacity will not be needed but the bonnet carre spillway is already at full capacity. what does that mean for all of the people who live in the path of this water as it begins the slow process of moving southward toward morgan city which is 100 miles away? it will move through the river basin of the area that will be flooded out. this water is not expected to crest in morgan city until may 24th. after that it's expected to stick around several more weeks, so we're looking at perhaps mid-june by the time all of this water dissipates and everything gets back to normal. that's the reality for many of the residents, the thousands of people who live down stream from where we are right now. >> and a very sad reality. thank you, ed lavandera. jennifer delgado has more information about how opening the morganza spillway today has already had a measurable effect on new orleans already. >> absolutely. earlier in the day we saw right around 16.98 feet. right now it's pretty close to that, but you have to keep in mind that's minor flood stage. we'll talk about how it affected parts of new orleans in just a moment. but as i zoom in for you, with he have this image coming in from the army corps of engineers. this is in this area of blue, an area expected to be experienced through parts of louisiana. ed was saying how that water was coming out of there. they opened 20% of that. now, as i show you this in red, this is the morganza spillway. in blue this actually is the mississippi river. because the mississippi is so high, by opening this up, this has allowed for actually some of that water to actually -- we can say be relieved and be pushed over to the west and south. the problem is that is going to flood a good part of the river basin area jen where in blue. to give you an idea how deep the water is going to be, we're talking about the flooding problem that's going to be there. anywhere you see it in green, we're talking 10 to 15 feet. anywhere in orange you can see right along the river we're talking 20 to 25, and look right here. this is actually showing you the area of the mississippi river. as i zoom out and we talk about louisiana, as i close this for you, and this right here is going to give you an idea when we're going to see some of that water coming from the morganza spillway. for sunday it's going to get very close to the area of interstate 10. that is a very heavily traveled road. it goes from lafayette to baton rouge, and with that water coming in, we could potentially see some of that actually causing some travel disruption. as we jump ahead to tuesday, we're going to see potentially cresting on may 25th, roughly about a half a foot above record flood stage. so we do have a levee system there, but that is if it holds together. now, we go to another graphic here. we have to continue talking about the flooding. yes, this is louisiana, and don mentioned how is this going to have an affect on new orleans? well, because they opened this up, we're going to expect only minor flooding may 14th and then may 16th we're actually going to see the river cresting, and that is roughly about ten feet above flood stage. and up towards the north we're talking dates roughly right around may 22nd, may 19th. i'm going to walk over here and talk to you, don, and we're looking at that video of the morganza spillway. you said to me earlier how has that affected new orleans? well, the good news is it's actually relieving some of that potential stress. now, we have a little science experiment for you. hopefully you can see this. we have some rice. this actually represents the bonnie carey. we opened that last week. >> the smaller spillway. >> scoop that for me. >> that represents 250,000 cubic feet per second. now, this one, this is the morganza and i'm going to make a mess, don. >> water is going to spill like that anyway. >> the red line indicates actually the top of the levee. by taking this all out you can see that the line is going to fall back down, it's going to be back below flood stage. >> that's with both of them. >> this has had an immediate effect but it's going to affect so many other people who live in that basin. you know that so. >> good explanation. >> thank you. >> our meteorologist here at cnn. we appreciate it. thank you. we're following developing story that we want to tell you about. it's about one of the most powerful voices when it comes to the world's money pulled off a plane tonight and questioned about an alleged sexual assault. we're going to have a live report for you. and then there's this. two leaders of the muslim faith arrested in this miami house charged with aiding terrorists. many have of you have been asking for information on social media. so you can reach out to us on twitter, on facebook, on cnn.com/don and on foursquare.com/donlemoncnn. inime litter box odor: purina tidy cats. our premium litters now work harder to help neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. curtis: welcome back to geico it's savings, on the radio. gecko: and the next caller is doug from chico. doug: oh...hey thereey...! gecko: you sound like a happy n. i wrote a song about it. gecko: alright, let's hear it! curtis: yeah jam session! doug: one, two... ♪ (singing) i got my motorcycle ♪ ♪ and my rv now i gotmore money. ♪ vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. the authentic, the rare, the hard to define. to those always searching for what's pure and what's real from we who believe we know just how you feel. haagen-dazs. you think i have allergies? 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[ male announcer ] get zyrtec®'s proven allergy relief people have all kinds of retirement questions. no problem. td ameritrade has all kinds of answers. call us for quick help opening your new ira. or an in-depth talk with a retirement expert. like me. stop by my branch for a free retirement check-up. retirement hows and how-muches? whens... and what-ifs? bring 'em on. it's free. you're gonna retire. and we're gonna help. retirement answers at td ameritrade. roll over your old 401(k) and get up to $500. we found out about this story a little while ago. it's still doling and it's very disturbing. the head of the organization that oversees the world's financial organization was pulled off a plane. his name is dominique strauss-kahn. leader of the international monetary fund. susan candiotti has been digging on this story. susan, tell us what allegedly happened here. >> reporter: a lot of really disturbing details here involving a very prominent figure in the business world. here's what we know about what happened. this is according to an official with the new york police department. at about 1:00 this afternoon, at a very prominent hotel here in new york city, the head of the international monetary fund dominique strauss-kahn was leaving -- was entering, sorry was in his room when a housekeeper, a maid entered his room to clean his hotel room. when she was allegedly met by this man, mr. kahn, who was stark naked according to police and he tried to force himself on her. she was able to break away. she ran to the desk, alerted the hotel staff. they in turn called the police. the police say by the time they got there, he had already left the premises. so they found out that he was on a flight from new york's jfk airport to paris and they got there just before the doors of the plane had been closed. some police officers went on board in plainclothes, took him off the plane. we're told he did not offer resistance and now he's currently still being questioned after many, many hours by the new york police department at the sexual assault unit. now, he's not cooperating. >> he's not? >> he's not cooperating. we're being told he's not making any statements at this time. and, furthermore, apparently the police said he left the hotel in quite a hurry. left his cell phone behind. we don't know if he left his suitcase behind, too. a lot more to be found out about this, obviously. >> have to ask you, then, i don't know about his background, so is there -- can you talk a little bit more about his background? is there something we might know that would give any indication why he would do something like this? now, he's just being questioned. we don't know if it's exactly true. but what about his background? >> reporter: he's not been charged yet. that's correct. he is still being questioned. this is a man who is in charge of a very important organization, the international monetary fund is a group that is in charge with transferring money from very rich countries to developing countries. and he's a very prominent figure. he is serving in the fourth of a five-year term. did he have some personal difficulties in the past. about two years ago in 2008 they looked into a situation and learned that he had had an affair. however, he was exonerated after a full inquiry although he did offer an apology. he said he did not abuse his power, but this is interesting because he told the board of the imf, that, quote, i'm committed going forward to uphold the high standards that are expects of this position. and of course if he is charged with this, that's a big problem. >> yeah. we'll continue to follow the developments. susan candiotti, thank you very much. i want to turn to south florida. a developing story related to u.s. national security. two imams, a father and son along with another son in los angeles, have been arrested on charges of providing support to the pakistani taliban. three others inside of pakistan have been indicted on the same charges. it accuses all six defendants of supporting a conspiracy to kill, injure and kidnap people abroad. the head of the mosque is accused of sending $50,000 to the taliban inside pakistan. >> $50,000 is just the tip of the iceberg. we'll show as the case proceeds that they transferred a lot more than $50,000 to pakistan for the specific pumps purpose that it reaches the pakistani taliban. >> the arrests are not linked to the recent killing of osama bin laden. the two imams are expected to appear in federal court on monday. it was a performance under fire even before he took to the stage. >> ep through the unseen, i know that god watches from one king's dream. he was able to barack us. one king's dream. he was able to bar ruck us. one king's dream. >> we'll look at what's really behind the conservative uproar over his invitation. you ready? one, two, three. 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[ male announcer ] cardboard no, delicious yes. burn a bush because for peace he don't push no button. killing over all, no weapons of destruction. >> hip-hop star common in a 2007 performance on hbo's death poetry jam. that line about burning a bush is one reason that conservatives are up in arms after the white house invited common to a poetry reading. was the white house wrong or do conservatives have a fundamental fear or misunderstanding of rap and hip-hop? we had a good chat about it earlier. >> they have nothing to go on. this is the cleanest rapper we have in the game. common sense, he makes conscious raps. he speaks to the people. he's anti-everything. this guy believes in god. if he's bad, there's nothing left in rap. he's the best we got. >> i know that fox will play this and say oh, look what cnn did, they invited these people on. just asking the questions. is there some racial undertones here? >> there's a definite racial disparity in the types of different music. for a lot of white americans they believe when black people talk about violence it's autobiographical and they're getting ready to go kill somebody. when white people do it they are just talking. bill o'reilly says white house doesn't understand america. these critics don't understand there's millions of americans whose understanding and experience of this country is not the lee greenwood thank god i'm free, proud to be an american version. it's a version of people who live in the bronx, folks who don't feel free. when they write about it either in a rhyme or poem, that is what scares these conservative white folks. then don't accept the fact that for millions of people the experience of america is different than theirs and they don't want to confront that. >> don't most whites buy hip-hop and rap? >> absolutely. you just have to remember this is all strategy. in my book i actually tell the cops' side of that 1992 cop killer controversy. and ron knew consciously that this was something that the cops needed to do after the l.a. cops beat down rodney king and the ensuing riots. the police had egg on their face and that this is something that the republicans and police needed to do to sort of turn cops into victims. when in actuality people like rodney king and folks brutalized by police that are much more the victims of this kind of thing. >> thanks to our panel there. baseball commissioner bud selig sits down with an exclusive interview, and he has some very interesting things to say about steroids and pete rose. i think you'll be surprised. you don't want to miss it. with honey nut cheerios cereal. kissed with real honey. and the 100% natural whole grain oats can help lower your cholesterol. you are so sweet to me. bee happy. bee healthy. major league baseball is celebrating its history and pioneers this weekend in atlanta. the annual civil rights game is being held at turner field sunday but the game is just part of a wider celebration. today saw a youth summit at centennial park along with games on a temporary field. the beacon awards are tonight honoring heroes like hall of famer ernie banks and a special recognition of the freedom riders, those courageous americans that rode buses across the south in the early '60s to defy discrimination. bud selig is here in atlanta for this weekend's event and he sat down with our very own fred reka whitfield for an interview. he talked about baseball's efforts to rid the game of steroids as well as at the lie guy built of certain players for the hall of fame. he also had some very interesting things to say about pete rose, currently banned from the game for betting on baseball games. >> so cleaner now than ever? >> no question about it. we banned amphetamines which was a great problem in major league baseball for years. the incidents of steroids in terms of positives are almost down to nothing. we're the only american sport testing for human growth hormone. we're giving blood tests in the minor leagues. i'm proud of where we are. we have to be on the lookout. chemists are always trying to develop things. but this is the first time baseball ever had a drug testing program. we went through the cocaine era in the '80s. now there's very stringent testing and i'm proud of the great progress we have made. >> how will that impact the eligibility of players in the hall of fame, sammy sosa, barry bonds, jose conseco, and their records and the potential of hall of fame, but at the same time the cloud of -- >> that will be up to the baseball writer's association of america. they will have to make that judgment in the years to come. >> will it be your judgment? >> no. that's strictly up to the baseball writer's association of america. they will have to make their own individual judgments on players. as they do now. >> when it comes to a pete rose, your opinion of a pete rose weighs very heavily on whether he should be in the hall of fame. >> that was different. pete broke an existing rule of 70 years. my office was created bykenesaw mountain landis and the scandal. and that's a matter still under review. >> you might change your mind? >> i didn't say that but it is under review. i understand the pros and cons of the pete rose situation. >> do you think you'll see a pete rose in the hall of fame? >> not a judgment i want to make. >> you can see the full interview tomorrow in the newsroom, 2:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. cnn had a chance to speak to three men being honored by major league baseball as role models. hall of famer ernie banks, actor morgan freeman, and musician carlos santana were given beacon awards tonight, em blet mattic the league says of the spirit of the civil rights movement. here is some of their conversation with our very own t.j. holmes. >> mr. banks, could you imagine, i guess there was a time you couldn't imagine there being a black player in major league baseball, but now there's a black president. what was your thought? >> it was very unique. i didn't think there would be a black manager, black general manager. jackie said this in 1972, he felt baseball had reached its pinnacle unless you see a black man standing on that third base coaching. it begins with him, back with him. jackie was really a pioneer. i think he's responsible for barack obama being the president of the united states going way back then. it was befor