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Nancy Grace

Devastation in Japan

Aired March 17, 2011 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. Devastation in Japan. The most massive earthquake in over 100 years triggers a tsunami at rocks Japan, leaving total destruction in its wake. And tonight, the death toll rising far into the thousands, thousands dead or missing, the numbers climbing. Is the Japanese government outright lying, covering up the severity of the crisis not only to its own people but to America, as well?

Nuclear radiation spreading after nuclear power plants designed to shut down in the event of an earthquake do not. Japanese and Americans on Japanese soil struggling to survive. Is nuclear fall-out heading to American shores? The U.S. regulatory commission announces fuel rods at the nuclear power plants now exposed and emitting extremely high levels of nuclear radiation. The governor of California declares a state of emergency.

Bombshell tonight. As international rescue attempts torpedoed because of nuclear radiation fear, Japanese schools now being used as morgues. And tonight, the tip of the iceberg emerges as civilians begin to fall ill from nuclear radiation.

And crisis in the American airline industry as Japan-U.S. flights test positive for nuclear radioactivity. And another bombshell. Was Japan actually warned in 2009 their nuclear reactors at risk and they did nothing? This as hail, rain and a blanket of snow settles over Japan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happening right now in real time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hydrogen explosion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dust particles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The radiation that`s been leaking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the radiation levels go up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cloud of radioactive steam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they get higher into the air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Highly radioactive material.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And can disperse more as a result of that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things are worse than I`m being told.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Snow, falling temperatures are freezing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The damage is so immense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Such an unusual tragedy that we`re having here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many survivors still lack food, water, blankets and shelter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Residents here are still pretty much shell- shocked.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The U.S. government is saying that Americans should be paying attention to what the U.S. government is saying about that evacuation zone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Telling all Americans to stay at least 50 miles away from the crippled nuclear reactor in Fukushima.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are very long lines at the airports that are here in Tokyo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The U.S. embassy in Tokyo says it has arranged for over 600 seats on several buses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thousands of American military family members could soon start evacuating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People who are Japanese, there are a lot of foreign nationals who are here. They`re also trying to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Washington`s also promising to help other Americans in Japan leave when they`re ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One picture is worth a million words.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that`s the situation here in Japan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. The most massive earthquake in over 100 years triggers a tsunami that rocks Japan, leaving total destruction in its wake, thousands dead and missing, the numbers climbing, international rescue attempts torpedoed because of nuclear radiation fears, Japanese schools now being used as morgues, civilians now falling ill from nuclear radiation, the tip of the iceberg.

And Japan-U.S. flights test positive for nuclear radioactivity. To top it all off, was Japan actually warned, formally warned in 2009 their nuclear reactors at risk, and they did nothing?

Straight out to Brian Todd, CNN correspondent joining us from Japan. Brian, what can you tell us?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nancy, these rescuers behind me are getting ready for their latest deployment -- unclear exactly where they`re going to be going from here today. Part of the frustration that they face every day is when they want to go out into these hard-hit areas. These are teams that are used to moving at lightning speed and getting to places quickly to try to pull people out, but it often here involves a lot of negotiation with the Japanese government, a lot of politics, bureaucracy to cut through some of that red tape on exactly where they can go, where they will be allowed to go, what international teams they have to coordinate with. So it does slow the pace down -- very frustrating for these teams. They know it has to be that way because if they don`t play by the Japanese rules, they may not be asked back (INAUDIBLE) like this.

It is increasingly bleak, the situation as far as trying to find survivors. We went to a city yesterday called Uno Sumai (ph), just northeast of here on the coast. The entire city had been wiped out. No survivors found. And if you can just see the scenes that we saw, it was clearly just a natural Armageddon for these people. Many of them never had a chance.

GRACE: Brian Todd, you`re describing rescue teams that have to play nice with the Japanese government, trying to cut through a lot of bureaucracy and red tape. Are they Japanese rescue teams? Are they U.S. rescue teams, or are they international coalition rescue teams?

TODD: Well, it`s kind of all the above, Nancy. The teams that we`re with are U.S.-based teams from Los Angeles County and Fairfax County, Virginia. They`re all under the arm of USAID, which is an arm of the State Department. The State Department has sponsored this trip and sent them over here, as they do whenever these teams are deployed internationally.

But they`re also working hand in hand with a British team that was here. Also, they have to kind of coordinate where they`re going to go with other teams from elsewhere in the region. Here`s an example. Two days ago, we went into Oponato (ph), and they -- there was a -- they work it on grids. Each team, the British and the Americans, coordinate closely, section off a city in grids -- You take that grid, I`ll take this grid. And they did that. But when the American team (INAUDIBLE) one section of that city, they found out the Chinese team had already been there. So some of these teams are coordinating with each other and coordinating with the Japanese. Other rescue teams from outside this country not so much.

GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls live and we are transmitting your questions live to Japan. Joining us there in the field, Brian Todd. Before I go to your calls, you mentioned the city of Uno Sumai and you referred to it as Armageddon, that the people never had a chance. The Japanese government is giving extremely, let me say kind-heartedly, euphemistic descriptions of what`s going on. You, however, say, Brian Todd, that it looked like Armageddon. Describe specifically what you mean by that, Brian Todd.

TODD: It just was complete devastation of this town, is what we`re really getting at here, Nancy. If you look at it, we were there yesterday walking in the rubble and the houses (ph). I mean, you don`t want to draw references to a nuclear attack, a nuclear bomb, but it really did look something like that had happened.

And of course, that`s not -- you know, that`s not a reflection on the Japanese government. This happened to this town, and there was really nothing left of it. I don`t know what the Japanese government is exactly saying about the situations like this, but I can tell you what we see. And what we see is complete devastation. We see some Japanese officials there coordinating with the American teams. But I think the Japanese government is overwhelmed right now. They`re trying to address that humanitarian crisis and the nuclear crisis at once. It is an overwhelming task for them.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. To Jeanette in Mississippi. Hi, Jeanette.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How`re you doing?

GRACE: I good, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look, in the `50s, I believe it was, we had bomb shelters here, where they buried everything and supplies under the ground, the concrete environment. And they were thinking of a nuclear, or atomic bomb. Well, I went to school, and I understand that there`s only three rays, gamma rays, beta rays and X-rays. And this gentleman over there said that they were like an X-ray, the exposure. But my question is this. When the meltdown (INAUDIBLE) isn`t it going to be a gamma ray?

GRACE: OK. I`m not as familiar with science as you are. But I`m going to go to Michael Elliot, deputy managing editor of "Time" magazine, to discuss the nuclear radiation that is going on over there that is largely being ignored by the Japanese government. Today, people are beginning to show, to manifest the side effects of nuclear radiation. She is referring to gamma, beta and X-rays, Michael. I don`t know if underground bunkers would help, although the Japanese government has told its people to avoid nuclear radiation, go inside and shut the doors and windows. Michael Elliot, weigh in.

MICHAEL ELLIOT, "TIME": I wouldn`t know the answer about the gamma rays, Nancy, and I wouldn`t want to pass an opinion on that. It`s not something that I`m familiar with.

The Japanese government, as you know, have ordered people to evacuate from a certain radius around the Fukushima nuclear plants. And then beyond that, they`ve asked people to stay indoors.

I think, as CNN`s correspondent just said, the Japanese authorities are having to cope with two quite extraordinary events that happened one on top of the other, an earthquake followed by the most enormous tsunami that has hit a developed nation in historical times, and then, of course, the nuclear incident at the nuclear plant that has all those reactors that are now so problematic.

And I think this would tax the resources of any government. There are no doubt ways in which the Japanese response can be criticized, the official response can be criticized. I think what`s been absolutely clear from everyone`s` reports is that ordinary Japanese people have been tremendous in their response.

GRACE: Yes, that has been roundly reported, you`re absolutely correct, Michael Elliot -- Michael joining us, the deputy managing editor of "Time" magazine.

To Brian Vastag, science reporter with "The Washington Post." Brian, weigh in, if you can, on Jeanette`s question.

BRIAN VASTAG, "WASHINGTON POST": Right. So you know, the radiation that`s being emitted from this plant right now, all the reports we`re getting is that it`s only endangering the workers on site. And those workers are -- I mean, they`re so brave. We don`t know exactly how many of them there are. There`s just a few of them left there. They`re probably working in very short shifts, exposing them to high levels of radiation.

But all the reports that we`re getting is that that radiation is not dangerous to anybody outside of the plant right now. I know there`s a lot of fears and there`s a lot of worries about it, but we haven`t received any reports -- you know, all the reporters at "The Washington Post" -- we`ve not -- we have received any reports of civilians being injured by this radiation.

GRACE: OK. Just leaking out right now are people beginning to manifest the illnesses of nuclear radiation. We don`t know the severity of that.

Brian Todd joining us from Japan -- Brian, we are showing video right now of a flight over one of the nuclear reactors, dropping, I believe it was, about seven tons of water, of salt water, sea water over one of the nuclear reactors. What, if any, has been the result of that attempt to cool down the reactor?

TODD: Well, from what we`re hearing, Nancy, it has helped to cool down the reactor somewhat. I`m not doing the direct reporting on the nuclear situation there. But they clearly need that water in there to cool the nuclear rods. They have attached -- successfully attached the electricity back to the plant, pumped more water back in there. So those are positive developments. Now, whether they actually, you know, place those rods under some cooling water and keep them there, that`s going to the key development in the hours ahead.

GRACE: The most massive earthquake in over 100 years triggers a tsunami that rocks Japan. And now the American airline industry in crisis as Japan-U.S. flights show radiation, radiation from articles and parcels in those flights.

The death toll is rising as illness manifests from nuclear radiation amongst the Japanese people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Complete devastation in this neighborhood. These teams have to comb through all this rubble. It`s very heavily concentrated. They`re working against every conceivable obstacle over here -- tons of mud, debris all over the place. You`ve got downed power lines. And the weather, obviously, has turned very, very bad and risky for these crews.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Desperation, Japanese helicopters trying to douse a super-hot reactor building, reactor number three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing being done so far seems to be working to cool down Japan`s damaged nuclear plant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We registered a reading the other day which was 20 times higher than normal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) listening to the helicopters, the water cannons and fire trucks trying to spray water onto the reactors. Those crews have to get out because of radiation levels that are increasing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, Japanese military helicopters are dropping 30 tons of sea water on the crippled reactor`s cooling pool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone in the shelter is, of course, also consumed by the frightening nuclear reactor drama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are dealing with limited information, certainly, outside the plant and inside the plant, as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They dropped seven-and-a-half tons of sea water in each of four runs over 40 minutes and appeared to have accomplished little, other than to expose the crews to radiation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They also have expanded that evacuation zone around the crippled nuclear reactor to 50 miles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re also hearing that thousands of American military family members could soon start evacuating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. I want to go out now to Tasha in Florida. Hi, Tasha. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Hi, Nancy. I have a question. I know this sumoon -- the -- whatever, tsunami, that came on land, and it had the resign (ph) back in the -- inside of the water. And what about the drinking water? Would the water be affected with radiation and all that stuff, as well?

GRACE: Excellent question. I want to go back out to Brian Todd regarding the drinking water. What have you been told?

TODD: Well, Nancy, there was a report a few days ago that some of the radiation from the Fukushima plant might have gotten into some of the groundwater, or some of the supply. But I don`t know how that was resolved. We have received really no reports of any water contamination at all anywhere else in the country.

And I think you don`t want to draw too many conclusions from that or be alarmist about that. We have heard no reports really about that.

GRACE: And I want to go now to senior meteorologist -- do we have Bernie Rayno yet? Bernie, the plume of radiation, how does it travel? And now we hear that hail, snow and rain is blanketing Japan.

BERNIE RAYNO, ACCUWEATHER.COM METEOROLOGIST: Well, on the weather side, Nancy, I do have some good news, is that things are going to be getting much better. The storm system that provided the snow over the last 24 hours is now pushing out to sea. And behind it, we have an area of high pressure building on in. So not only are we getting better weather as we go through Friday, temperatures will be in the middle 40s along the coastal parts of Honshu, but as we head into Saturday, we`re looking at temperatures rising into the 60s. Early next week...

GRACE: The plume! The plume!

RAYNO: ... though, we`re going to have to be dealing with more rain. Now, as far as the plume is concerned...

GRACE: How does the plume of radiation travel?

RAYNO: Well, as far as the plume is concerned, it has to be transported in the atmosphere for that plume to be then directed away from Japan and perhaps toward the United States. But that doesn`t magically happen. You need some kind of explosion or a fire to push that in the upper atmosphere, and I haven`t seen that yet.

GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! What about the nuclear reactors that have now emitted nuclear radiation? We have seen fire. Wouldn`t that count?

RAYNO: Well, you need to have that -- you need that to be occurring over a long period of time to get it up in the atmosphere, and that`s just not occurring right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: An earthquake rocks Japan, resulting in a tsunami, and now nuclear radiation, illness manifest amongst the Japanese people.

Joining us live from Tokyo, Anderson Cooper. Anderson, we`ve been watching you every night as you see this tragedy unfold. Tell me -- I was watching the video, Anderson, of them pouring, I believe it was seven tons, of sea water onto one of the reactors. Explain what`s happening.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": Right. There`s a couple things going on. There is a battle right now at this nuclear plant to try to save everybody around the nuclear plant, frankly, and try to bring this thing to an end. It`s not going to end anytime soon. But what they`re trying to do is there`s these spent fuel rods in the pool around reactor number 3. There are six reactors. So there are these spent fuel rods that are normally covered in water, about 20 to 30 feet covered in water. They`re not. The water has boiled off. It`s evaporated. And those fuel rods can be spewing radiation into the air.

So they`re trying to cover those fuel rods with water in a number of the reactors, but most importantly, number 3 right now. They tried to do that from the air. They had four choppers brought in. Only one of them was actually able to get water onto the spent fuel rods, we`re told. It`s not nearly enough water. Seven tons -- it sounds like a lot. They need many times that in order to actually cover these things.

Then last night, Nancy, they brought in fire -- basically, fire trucks, water cannons usually used to, you know, control riot situations by police, tried to basically just pour water from hoses onto these things. They were only able to do that for about an hour because the radiation is so intense. They had to fall back. Again, it`s not clear, the situation. They don`t know how much water is on there. And this thing is nowhere near over, Nancy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My husband was at city hall. And then...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): You have not heard from him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Let`s go!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I want to go home!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We are taking your calls, live. Straight back to Anderson Cooper joining us live from Tokyo.

Anderson, you were describing how they are trying to cool down the reactors by dropping tons of water on them. And that`s not nearly enough water. How can they get anyone to fly down over a nuclear reactor that is spouting radiation?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN`S AC 360: Yes, can you imagine that, Nancy? Having to make that call and volunteer for that?

You know, it`s not just the pilots who are in danger because, you know, obviously -- you know, they`re coming very close to this thing but look, they have had 50 workers on the ground for days. They`ve now supplemented that and say they`re up to 180 workers.

In many cases, you know, they`re being compared to kind of modern-day kamikazes. I mean that they are knowingly exposing themselves to extraordinarily high levels of radiation and they`re doing it out of dedication and a sense of responsibility to try to -- to try to stop this, and save the larger population who lives around these plants.

So it`s extraordinarily difficult conditions they`re working in. In some cases they`re wearing respirators, they`re wearing white suits. But, you know, they are exposing themselves to high levels of radiation. They`re trying to monitor -- they`re trying to -- the reason now they brought in more works, 180 of them, because 50, frankly, couldn`t do the job.

And they`re trying to rotate them through so they`re only exposed for a certain amount of time and then they`re pulled back and then more come in. But I mean it is -- it is an extraordinarily difficult job. And I think everybody in Japan views these people as heroes right now.

GRACE: Anderson, last night one of the callers called in and said her son was on the USS Ronald Reagan, and they are actually spotting bodies out in the ocean. Bodies swept to sea from Japan. Are -- do we know that people have been swept to sea?

COOPER: Yes, there`s no doubt. I mean with the tsunami, as you know, Nancy, you know it floods the shore. And those pictures we`ve seen are just extraordinary, probably the most extraordinary images we`ve ever seen of a tsunami.

Sweeps people, you know, out of their homes, off the streets, out of their cars, often people are killed not by the earthquake, but by the tsunami, by the water. You know that water is churning, it`s moving fast. There`s all sorts of debris in it. It`s depositing all this debris sometimes miles away inland from the water`s edge.

And then that water moves back out, taking with it debris and human remains as well. So that`s why you`re finding bodies swept far out to sea. You know they found a person alive on a rooftop that had been swept out to sea. They found that man several days ago. He was nine miles out to sea. He`d been swept out there. He was alive.

But most of the folks who get swept out to sea, Nancy, I mean, there - - there`s no way the water -- if they don`t drown in the water, they are hitting objects, because that -- it`s not just water, it`s all that debris. It`s cars, it`s building materials, it`s rocks and cement. It`s -- you know that water is so powerful, it takes everything in its path, Nancy.

GRACE: You know, everyone, Anderson Cooper joining us live from Tokyo.

Anderson, the reports that we are getting from the Japanese government seems to be extremely euphemistic. I don`t feel that we`re getting a true sense of what is happening from the death toll, to the threat of nuclear radiation, to the rescue attempts.

I mean, we are being told that people are being given only a golf ball size of rice to live off per day in a lot of the area there. What do you know, Anderson?

COOPER: Yes, well, that`s absolutely true, Nancy. I mean first of all, supplies are really short in the northeast where people -- you know, there`s nearly half a million people right now who are homeless. They`re in shelters, yes. But a lot of shelters don`t have electricity, they`re cold, and they`re running low on food supplies.

They don`t have medical supplies. So for the elderly that`s of particular concern and might need medication daily. And on the nuclear front, you`re absolutely right, Nancy. That the conferences the Japanese officials give, you want to throw -- you know, throw something at the screen when you`re watching these things because the statements are often vague. They`re not really specific.

You know you hear about politicians in the United States kind of, you know, talking but not really saying anything. Well, you know, here it kind of takes it to a whole new level. We did hear some frank comments from U.S. officials yesterday. They`re saying the situation is worse than Japanese officials have been saying. And they`re basing that not just on the data that they`re getting from Japanese officials, but data that they`ve been able to take independently with planes -- special planes they brought in to monitor radioactive -- radioactivity.

So it`s very frustrating on the ground for people here. There`s a real credibility gap. And a lot of the Japanese citizens I talked to say they frankly just don`t believe many of the statements that their officials are making.

GRACE: You know, I was watching a lot of the rescue footage, Anderson, and I noticed on the back of some of the rescuers` jackets, it said Fairfax County, and U.S., United States. So we are there on the ground trying to help the Japanese people?

COOPER: Yes. They`re an amazing team from Fairfax County, Virginia Urban Search and Rescue team, and another great group from Los Angeles, who I`ve worked with both of these groups, Fairfax in Katrina, and L.A. County Urban Search and Rescue in Haiti.

I mean the men and women who do it, and they bring in dogs as well, they do an extraordinary job. They came in, their job is really to find living people. And I`ve got to tell you, Nancy, that is kind of the -- one of the saddest parts of this. This is not Haiti where you had people trapped and found days and days later underneath the rubble.

This is not a building that`s collapsed and maybe there`s an air pocket and someone can survive like that. These are freezing cold temperatures at night. And again, these are people -- the people who have died have been swept away by the tsunami and crushed often up with all this debris, and are now buried in debris fields that are, you know, 10, 15, 20 feet thick in some places.

So an urban search and rescue team, as good as they are, they`re not finding living people. One of our reporters are up there, and I talked to him yesterday, he said they simply haven`t found anybody who`s alive in the debris. They found a lot of bodies, but they haven`t found living people. And that`s one of the really sad things.

You know you try to hold on to hope and you want to hear those stories of people being rescued days and days after. We`re not hearing those. And it`s just one of the many sad things here, Nancy.

GRACE: Anderson, I know you`re doing your thing, but we want you to come on home. So be careful. And I`ll be watching tonight at 10:00 along with everybody else.

COOPER: Thank you, Nancy. All right, thank you.

GRACE: Everyone, Anderson Cooper joining us live there in Tokyo. We are taking your calls.

Out to Sheeba in Illinois, hi, Sheeba.

SHEEBA, CALLER FROM ILLINOIS: Hi, Nancy, dear. My question is, what if this radiation, if this really is another Chernobyl or Chernobyl, I`m sorry. My dad was on nuclear subs. We talked about all this stuff all the way, being at ground zero when they went off. And my husband was in chemicals. He was in the army. And biological stuff.

You know, what`s the chances of this happening over here?

GRACE: Well, the distance between L.A. and Chernobyl was a little over 6,000 miles. Now, L.A. is about 5300 miles. It`s a little closer.

Let`s go out to Art Stall, former president and chief nuclear officer from NextEra, joining us tonight from D.C.

What do you think, Art?

ART STALL, FORMER PRESIDENT AND CHIEF NUCLEAR OFFICER, NEXTERA: Good evening, Nancy. And thank you for having me. I think that, number one, this is not a Chernobyl. This is in no way, shape or form anywhere close to Chernobyl.

GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute, Art. Art, it`s not a Chernobyl yet. Yet. But I mean we see they can`t cool the reactors down.

STALL: Well, Nancy --

GRACE: Because the water is boiled out.

STALL: The difference between what is going on in Japan and Chernobyl is that that was an operating reactor without a containment building that actually exploded. Not a nuclear explosion, but the core exploded. And placed radioactive material very high up into the atmosphere.

And when that material eventually, the plume reached the United States, the incremental dose to the United States citizens over the next year was around 1 milliram which is a small fraction of what you would get from an x-ray.

GRACE: Joining me right now, Ken Isaacs from Tokyo, VP of International Programs and Government Relations of Samaritan`s Purse.

Ken, many admirers of you over here. What can you tell us? How much emergency supplies are you sending to Japan? How many people do you want to reach?

KEN ISAACS, VP OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, SAMARITAN`S PURSE: Well, we`ve got a 14-person assessment team up in Sendai right now. And we want to do all that we can. We`ve got a flight coming in tomorrow at 4:00 Tokyo time, with 93 tons of emergency supplies on it.

But honestly, we`ve been very surprised at the lack of availability of essential emergency supplies here. The bureaucracy, the red tape that we have to go through in Japan is, you know, well developed, very structured society. We were going to bring water filtration equipment that we use in countries all around the world, and what we found in talking with local officials was that they just weren`t quite sure of the quality of water.

And that, plus the fact that we feel like the municipal water would be back on in Sendai in a few days, we just cut the water filtration equipment off, even though we know that we could use it in many other places. So there`s a lot of needs. We`re going to do all that we can. But overcoming the challenges that -- you know, it`s a pretty immense situation.

But now with the nuclear incident developing, we`ve got a team up north, and you know nobody wants to drive. The chartered truck companies are very hesitant to go up there. There`s a lack of fuel. So there`s a lot of complexities. And you wouldn`t think that Japan would be so overwhelmed, but they are in fact overwhelmed.

GRACE: Ken Isaacs, how much emergency supplies are you sending and what do the supplies consist of?

ISAACS: We`re sending blankets, plastic sheeting, hygiene supplies, soap, water cans. Very basic nonfood items. We`re trying to buy things off the local markets. You know, diapers, baby food, milk powder. You`ve seen the images from the correspondents of people standing in line, of little or no food. Nothing is available. So we`re trying to address some of those needs.

GRACE: What`s the problem with the Japanese government? Why so much red tape, Ken?

ISAACS: Well, you know, it`s sort of like when foreign governments tried to bring assistance into the United States during Katrina. It`s a very structured society. They`ve got, you know, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Welfare, and they`ve got import restrictions. And we`re having to get waivers through all of that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to you, Margaret Haas, expert in Japanese-American relations with the Japan Cross Cultural Consulting Business.

Margaret, what, if anything, has the emperor, the Japanese emperor, told his people?

MARGARET HAAS, JAPAN EXPERT, HAAS ASSOCIATES: Well, in an unprecedented speech over TV for the first time in history, he`s tried to reassure them and talk about the long-term perspective.

His speech would especially appeal to elderly Japanese, who really respect tradition. And he`s been really trying to supply some of the leadership that`s sorely lacking regarding this tragedy. I think who is in charge, Nancy, that`s the real issue here.

GRACE: Well, to Michael Elliot, deputy managing editor at "TIME" magazine, can you tell us what the status of the nuclear reactors are and the attempts to avoid a meltdown, as well as what you believe to be the current death toll?

MICHAEL ELLIOTT, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, we know the current death toll that the government have declared is around 15,000 either dead or missing. But I was listening very, very carefully to what Anderson was saying just a few minutes ago, and he had one of the most experienced reporters in the whole world in looking at this disaster.

I suspect there are an enormous number of bodies that have not yet been recovered. The tsunami was absolutely enormous. You`re talking about a 10-meter high wall of water. By any standards of tsunamis, that`s really extraordinary.

And as Anderson said, there are 20, 30 feet maybe worth of debris covering some of these villages. So I very much fear that we`re going to hear that there`s a lot more people dead or missing.

GRACE: To Cynthia Young, joining us from Chicago. She is the mother of Edward Clemons. He is missing in Japan. He was there for a teaching program. He`s only 25 years old.

Miss Young, thank you for being with us. What, if anything, are you hearing from Japan? Who have you been in touch with?

CYNTHIA YOUNG, SON EDWARD CLEMONS MISSING IN JAPAN: I`m sorry. I`ve been in touch with the JET program there, which is the Japanese Exchange Teaching program. And I spoke with them. They had a Web site. And when I went to the Web site, it says that he was accounted for.

And once the media got in contact with me and let me know, you know, we were trying to find out where he was at, and I was letting them know that JET said he had been accounted for. He had never been accounted for. Now if you go on the Web site, they say he`s not accounted for.

GRACE: Have you spoken to your representative and senator?

YOUNG: Yes, I did. I spoke to the senator, and I also called Congress. They really had no answers, you know. It was like, you know, call the number on the TV.

GRACE: Cynthia, stay right there. I`m going to get our producers to try to help you with some numbers that may be able to help.

Jean Casarez, weigh in.

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": One-fourth almost of the Japanese population are the elderly. And that is one of the critical issues. Because even if they survive the tsunami where is their medication? They`re in a shelter that has no heat, with the freezing temperatures. They`re sleeping on cardboard. They`re huddling together.

That is one issue. But there is a miracle. A little baby was found in the town of Ishinoka (ph) which was northeast of Sendai. Through little baby cries, and rescue workers heard, got through the rubble and they found that little 4-month-old baby alive.

GRACE: And up until then, they had believed that the baby was dead.

CASAREZ: Yes, they had. But the baby was reunited with parents that had survived.

GRACE: To Dr. Stanton Kessler, former medical examiner, forensic pathologist, joining us out of Columbia, South Carolina.

Dr. Kessler, why is this so much more hard on the elderly?

DR. STANTON KESSLER, FORMER MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: The elderly are suffering from problems with hypothermia. They have chronic diseases, heart disease, diabetes. Some have strokes. Kidney disease. And cancer. And all these people are on therapy. And they can`t get to therapy, they can`t get their drugs.

In a hurricane even when you put people in shelters, you have to take care of these people, walking distances. They get heart attacks. This is the problem. It`s not so much that you have the radiation exposure, because I don`t think we`re there yet. But I think it`s the fact they`re sick and you have to take care of this population.

GRACE: Brian Todd, joining us from Japan.

Brian, what more can you tell us?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nancy, one of the points that was raised here about just -- you know the death toll and what we`re going to be looking at in the days, weeks and months ahead, I was told something very kind of daunting by one of the rescue team leaders a short time ago as far as the prospect of recovering bodies, and you know getting some closure to people who have lost loved ones, and identifying bodies and getting an accurate count of how many people were killed. We may never get that.

Because what one of these team leaders told me in a tsunami, often the bodies are taken out to sea. Once before killed, they`re washed up to sea, sometimes, you know, tens of hundreds of miles out to sea and never recovered.

So finding the accurate toll when this is all said and done, even in the years ahead, that just may never happen.

GRACE: With us, Brian Todd in Japan.

To Dr. Bethany Marshall, you know, many of us have had to face tragedy. But at least we knew what had happened to our beloved one. What -- how do these people cope? They never have any idea what happened.

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": Well, the most important part of trauma recovery, Nancy, is for people`s immediate needs to be met. Food, shelter, clothing. And the lack of transparency with the government and lack of supplies cuts directly against this need and creates paranoia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We are taking your calls and directly to Japan, standing by, CNN`s Brian Todd.

Let`s go out to Kathy in Montana. Hi, Kathy. What`s your question?

KATHY, CALLER FROM MONTANA: Hi. The question that I have is, is Japan (INAUDIBLE) on when Katrina hit? And I have another question. Why aren`t they using all that wood to burn (INAUDIBLE) --

GRACE: OK. Liz, I couldn`t understand what she was saying. What did she say?

Kathy, repeat your first question again, please?

KATHY: My question is, when Katrina hit, Japan sent fire rescue. And why aren`t they using all that wood to burn and keep warm?

GRACE: OK. Brian, I think she`s asking about the wood. Why it`s not being used to keep warm.

TODD: The -- she`s asking about why what is not being used to keep warm? I`m sorry.

GRACE: I think she`s asking about why aren`t they using wood to stay warm? OK, we --

TODD: That`s a good question. You know we don`t really see a lot of people staying outside, so you know they`re not really --

GRACE: We just have lost our connection to Japan.

But let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Dennis Flannigan, 22, Inverness, Florida, killed Iraq. From a military family. On a second tour. Awarded Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

From a young age wanted to help others. Certified by FEMA. Loved cross country, track. Dreamed of being a history teacher. Leaves behind parents Patricia and Dennis. Sisters Jennifer and Melissa.

Dennis Flanagan, American hero.

Thanks to our guests and especially to you for being with us, and a special good night to Georgia friends, Britney, Felecia and Conda. These are a preacher`s wife and kid and friend. That`s unbearable pressure.

And happy birthday to Georgia friend of the show, Steve. Now isn`t he handsome?

And happy birthday to another friend, Anne. What a smile.

Our thoughts and prayers tonight with Marion Feinstein, founder of South Carolina`s Miss Marion School of Dance. Walking with her daughter at Radio City, Marion struck by a taxi. She`s inspired so many to go on to successful careers on Broadway.

Miss Marion, please stay strong.

Everyone, tonight our thoughts and our prayers with Japan. Please join me.

I`ll see you tomorrow night. 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END