zone for the very latest on the worst flooding in nearly a century. and $4 a gallon. it's official. gas prices hit that psychological barrier nationwide this weekend. but is there finally some relief in sight? we're going to tell you why filling up may become a little less painful just in time for the summer. "early" this monday morning, may the summer. "early" this monday morning, may 9th, 2011. captioning funded by cbs and welcome to "the early show" here on a monday morning, i'm chris wragge. >> and i'm rebecca jarvis. erica hill is off this morning. and there are still these reverberations all across the nation. in the capitol this morning, after president obama's revealing interview on "60 minutes" last night, it was an up-close look at presidential decision-making. >> one-hour program could have easily probably gone two. that's where we're going to begin this morning. the president spoke to correspondent steve kroft about last sunday's attack, which he called the longest 40 minutes of his life. >> i want to go to the situation room. >> yeah. >> what was the mood? >> tense. >> people talking? >> yeah. but, doing a lot of listening, as well. because -- because we were able to monitor the situation in realtime. getting reports back from bill mccraven, the head of our special forces operations, as well as leon panetta. there were big chunks of time in which all we were doing was just waiting. and it was the longest 40 minutes of my life, with the possible exception of when sasha got meningitis when she was 3 months old and i was waiting for the doctor to tell me that she was all right. it was a very tense situation. >> were you nervous? >> yes. >> what could you see? >> we were monitoring the situation, and we knew, as events unfolded, what was happening in -- in and around the compound. but we could not get information clearly about what was happening inside the compound. >> and that went on for a long time. could you hear gunfire? >> we had a sense of when gunfire and explosions took place. >> flashes? >> yeah. and we also knew when one of the helicopters went down in a way that wasn't according to plan. and, as you might imagine, that made us more tense. >> so it got off to a bad start? >> well, it -- it did not go exactly according to plan. but this is exactly where all the work that had been done anticipating what might go wrong made a huge difference. >> there was a backup plan? >> there was a backup plan. >> you had to blow up some walls? >> we had to blow up some walls. >> when was the first indication that you had found the right place? that bin laden was in there? >> there was a point before folks had left, before we had gotten everybody back on the helicopter and were flying back to base, where they said, geronimo has been killed. and geronimo was the code name for bin laden. and now, obviously, at that point these guys are operating in the dark with all kinds of stuff going on. so, everybody was cautious. but, at that point cautiously optimistic. >> what was your reaction when you heard those words? >> i was relieved, and i wanted to make sure those guys got over the pakistan border, and landed safely. >> and joining us now from washington with more is cbs news homeland security correspondent bob orr. bob, good morning. >> good morning, chris. >> as u.s. officials pore over all the data seized in the bin laden compound are they any closer to find out if there was any direct link to being helped by the pakistani government? >> as you know, that is the big question. right now officials don't have a clear answer. . the intelligence suggests that bin laden was in that compound that we've now seen near a pakistan military academy for five, maybe even six years. so president obama says it's obvious that he had some kind of help from somebody inside pakistan. but so far, the u.s. says it cannot find any hard evidence that pakistani government or military leaders had any role in protecting bin laden. so i have to say, there are strong suspicions, even a growing distrust on both sides. rogue elements of the pakistan intelligence services, as we know, have been connected to terrorists in the past, chris. >> all right. beyond the technical data itself that was secured, as far as human intelligence, what are they looking to collect now? and what information are they trying tos aer taken from any type of human intelligence? >> you know, the courier who knew bin laden the best, who was his link to the outside world, was shot and killed by the s.e.a.l.s in the raid. however, three of bin laden's wives are alive and in pakistani custody. now, it's obvious the u.s. wants to desperately ask them what they know, for example, about the terror leader's actions, his communications, who he met with, what the plans might have been. it's not clear at all that they have any real insight into the workings of al qaeda. but for the moment, for some reason, pakistan is denying the u.s. access to them. also the evidence gathered from inside the compound, you see here, is giving the u.s. leads to other people outside the compound who may have valuable inside knowledge about how al qaeda was working and what it planned to do, chris. >> bob, i know you were all over this story all weekend. what was the significance behind releasing those tapes on saturday of bin laden. sitting there rocking back and forth watching himself on television? >> those things were fascinating, weren't they? there were five of them in all. one was really more than any of the others. it showed bin laden, even in hiding, remained at the very center of al qaeda's propaganda efforts. he was obsessed with his image to the outside world. this is the tape i'm talking about. the home movie of the terror mastermind watching television news coverage of himself. he's sitting there huddled in a blanket. he's got a ski cap on. it's a rundown room, bare wires. it looks like a bum's room. he has a remote control flipping from the channels. in the picture he looks very old, he has a gray beard. but that's pretty interesting, because when he appeared on tapes that he wanted the public to see, you know his terror messages, that period was dyed black. and of course he wore the official clerical robes. the government says the tapes, other evidence taken together, make it clear to them that bin laden still very much ran al qaeda, and was the top of the pyramid. chris? >> all right, cbs' bob orr in washington for us this morning. thanks, as always. >> thank you. >> now here's rebecca. >> chris, now we turn to the latest on the severe flooding in the south. this morning, much of the focus is on memphis, where the mississippi river is about to hit its highest level since 1937. cbs news correspondent randall pinkston is in memphis, and randall, is the city ready for what could end up being the worst flooding that they've seen in history? >> well, good morning, rebecca. and, yes, local officials, as well as the u.s. army corps of engineers, say the floodwalls, all in place and they do believe >> randall, so much of the outcome in flood situations is that evacuations run smoothly. people do leave their homes when they're told to. what is the status of the evacuations at this point? throughout memphis. continuing to warn people in low-lying areas to be on the alert for rising water. >> randall, you bring up the point about the tributaries. in many respects, they're a bigger concern here than the mississippi river itself. what are you hearing about preparations for the downstream issues that memphis may face? >> well, that tributary problem is certainly an issue in the state of mississippi just south of memphis. already there's been chaos, financial and otherwise. the casinos in mississippi have all closed. that's dropped tax revenues for the state and local government. and between the yazoo river and the mississippi river, people have already been evacuated. some roads have been closed off. and farther downstream the army corps of engineers keeping a close watch on the levees between rattan rouge and new orleans. they already opened the spillway north of new orleans to relieve some of the pressure from the mississippi and they may have to open another spillway north of baton rouge. that would wipe out a lot of farmland. but they'll do it if they have to to relieve the pressure from the rising mississippi. rebecca? >> cbs' randall pinkston in memphis. thank you. and joining us now is memphis mayor a.c. wharton jr. mayor wharton, thanks for being with us. great to have you. >> thank you. >> okay. so now you have the mississippi river expected to crest 24 hours ahead of schedule. how has that changed your game plan? >> actually, we don't have 24 hours. they moved that date up. it should be around midnight tonight, between midnight and early tomorrow morning. so we don't have as much time. but fortunately we're ready for it. >> you're ready for it. what ways are you preparing the city? you've evacuated a number of individuals and homes there. >> well, we've learned from other incidents such as new orleans, sometimes it's not enough to get on tv and tell folks to get out. we're actually going door to door, opened up a command center for the people who have to be evacuated, full services there. but, we're going back and back and back. we're going to be ready for it. >> does it concern you at all, we've also heard about people saying they're afraid of security if they were to leave their home, it might be open to looters. does it concern you at all that people may be staying behind? >> it really does concern us. and, again, that's why we're doing the door-to-door. we understand that they're concerned about crime. but that's why we have what we call direct patrols, police officers actually going into those neighborhoods. we have helicopters in the air. we've got cameras. their property is going to be safe. just as safe as it were, were there not this flood. >> how about the condition of the levees there? obviously that's going to be a big factor in protecting the city from greater damage. >> we depend heavily on those levees. and we rely on the word of the corps of engineers. they told us yesterday that there are no threatened breaches. we haven't detected anything like that. so we're depending on the levees, and, of course, we've got a good system of pumps in the event water does get in. with the levees and the pumps and we have auxiliary power sources for all the pumps, so we think we're going to be ready. >> mayor wharton, give us the story by the numbers right now. how many people have been evacuated? how many people do you anticipate leaving their homes before all this is said and done? >> just over 300 have been evacuated. of course, others have come in and checked out the command center and the shelters. they know where to go if water gets any closer. some are just waiting until the last minute to get out. but they'll know precisely what to do. >> mayor a.c. wharton, we appreciate it. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> and of course we wish the best for everybody in the city. terrible situation there. jeff glor is at the news desk for a check of the rest of the headlines. >> good morning to you. good morning, everyone at home, as well. a scare for american airlines flight. a passenger had to be subdued when he rushed the cockpit door. the latest in a string of security scares over the weekend for u.s. airliners. american flight 1561 from chicago was approaching san francisco last night. the passenger then, who was carrying a yemeni passport, started banging on the cockpit door and screaming. crew members and other passengers wrestled him to the floor and put him in handcuffs. and that 737 landed safely. earlier in the day, two other u.s. flights were diverted. a continental jet was forced to land in st. louis after a passenger tried to open the door during flight 546 from houston to chicago. the passenger there was subdued and arrested. and the flight resumed after an hour on the ground. and earlier, a delta flight from detroit to san diego was diverted to albuquerque, when a note was found in a bathroom. the pilot told passengers the note had the word bomb in it. the plane was searched. the passengers questioned. and the flight then resumed. what might be a no-fly list for trains. new york senator chuck schumer is now pushing for the creation of a no-ride list for amtrak. to keep suspected terrorists off trains. intelligence seized from osama bin laden's compound indicated al qaeda was considering attacking u.s. railways. this morning, gas prices are up, and they've hit big new level. according to the lundberg survey, national average price of gasoline is now $4 a gallon. that was an increase of almost 12 cents in just the last two weeks. however, it appears they may be heading lower very soon. cbs news national correspondent jim axelrod is at a gas station here in new york with the latest on that. jim, good morning to you. what are the indications we're seeing that gas prices are heading down here now? >> well, good morning, jeff. believe me, they'd settle for $4 a gallon here in manhattan. you can see price per gallon of unleaded regular, $4.27. but the thinking, the hope is that we're starting to see some pressure downward on the price of crude. last week the price of a barrel of crude dropped 13%, more than $12 a barrel. while it ticked back up this morning, still the trend seems to be lower on the price of crude. now what does that translate to by the time it gets to the pump? the thinking is that the price of crude goes down, eventually by the time it plays through the system you could see as much as a 50 cent a gallon reduction here at the pump. that would save drivers here in the united states $189 million a day. basically what's going on here is the laws of supply and demand. for every 10% hike in the price of gas at the pump, the thinking from the experts is there's a 1% decline in consumption. that's unsustainable as far as big oil goes. jeff? >> jim axelrod in new york this morning. jim, thank you. finally, for four years running, google has been considered the world's most valuable brand. and now, apple has taken over the top spot, thanks mostly to its hot-selling iphone and ipad. it is 16 minutes past the hour. over to chris and rebecca. >> it is a big, huge, glass door outside our front door. >> that helps. >> thank you, jeff. >> all right now here's marysol castro with our first check of the national weather. >> good morning the two of you. good morning, everyone at home. of course we're talking about record-breaking flooding. but why are we even talking about it? it turns out the mississippi and ohio river valleys saw snowfall totals that were one to two feet above normal. same area for the month of april saw rain fall totals that were five to seven inches above normal. so all of that rain, all of that meltoff has to go somewhere. right now the focus is the lower mississippi river. take a look at some of these cities. there are nine states with flood warnings from ohio to louisiana. it's only going to get worse. it's expected to last through the end of may. today you can see mem piste, 47.6 feetd above. and natchez is next in line, 56 feet expected by next week. and the following week, baton rouge. we're going to track this at least for the end of may, if not the begi >> thanks so much. that's your latest weather. chris and rebecca, there is actually some other great news on the weather front. we'll tell you about it later on. >> that's what we like to hear. thanks so much, marysol. >> coming up here on "the early show," how did he keep the secret of bin laden's hideout secret? we're going to hear more of president obama's riveting "60 minutes" interview. >> also jury selection begins today in the murder trial of casey anthony, accused of murdering her young daughter caylee. we'll bring you the latest in that case. 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