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American Morning

Stopping Gadhafi; Latest in Japan's Nuclear Crisis; Mobilizing Against Ghadafi; Gas Pain; Commercial Air Traffic Shut Down In Libya

Aired March 18, 2011 - 05:57   ET

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


CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Right now on AMERICAN MORNING, rebels in Libya now have backup, the world. They're digging in their heels for what could be a decisive battle as the United Nations approves a no-fly zone over the country. We're live in Libya with the latest.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Also, it's been one week now since the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan. Thousands are dead, thousands of more missing. Hopes of finding survivors are vanishing and they're still trying to deal with this nuclear catastrophe this morning.

ROMANS: Imagine ordering an evacuation of New York City. The nuclear crisis in Japan has America asking, are we ready? We will ask one of the largest plant operators in the country what their reactors are built to withstand.

CHETRY: And we've seen how social media helped overthrow a regime. Now Google is trying to help people locate loved ones in Japan. An invention that came right from the hearts and minds of engineers in their spare time.

ROMANS: All that straight ahead. All the very latest in Libya and Japan on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

CHETRY: And we are following breaking news this morning on two fronts. First, the latest developments in Libya. Also, breaking news on the deteriorating situation in Japan. So welcome once again to AMERICAN MORNING.

It's been a week now since all of this happened. The tsunami, the earthquake, the number of dead in Japan continuing to rise as hopes fade of finding any more survivors amid the rubble. Meantime, the radiation concerns are spreading, as well. Crews are now desperately trying to cool down fuel at one nuclear reactor. The number of dead has climbed to 6,500 people and the search grows more frantic with 10,000 people still missing.

ROMANS: Turning to fast-moving developments in Libya, stopping Gadhafi. Britain, France and the U.S. are all scrambling this morning to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya now that the U.N. Security Council has authorized, quote, "all necessary measures" to halt the slaughter of the Libyan people. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is live in Tripoli this morning.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. Well, we've already heard from the deputy foreign minister here who said that he doesn't expect immediate air strikes here, but wouldn't say what preparations the army or anyone else in the country may be taking to defend the country with this new U.N. resolution.

When he was asked about the cease-fire that the resolution calls for, he seemed to indicate that the government here was going to take some time to do that. He said that they didn't have anyone to negotiate with that they would put it in place, but this was something that was going to take time. He seemed to hint that the army here may still plan to continue with some of its offensive. That offensive was going on in the east, and we have no updated information from that frontline this morning, Christine.

ROMANS: Does this U.N. resolution paint -- does it paint them into a corner, Gadhafi and his allies? What does it do? What does it force him to do if anything?

ROBERTSON: It forces him to stop. It forces him to stop his military offensive because it calls for the protection of civilians and the army that he has placed there, Gadhafi has placed in the eastern country at the moment. An army with tank -- with (INAUDIBLE) rockets that had been seen in some towns being used to fire into the cities killing and wounding civilians. But if that equipment is used, then he has been put on notice that the United Nations signatures to that resolution can use military force to stop those attacks on civilians. This isn't just about a no-fly zone. But it means his army can be attacked, as well.

Now late last night, just as the U.N. was voting, we heard from Seif (ph) Gadhafi, one of the sons of Moammar Gadhafi. He thinks that his father had said that the military would change its tactics. And this came just before the resolution saying that the army would no longer attack, that it would (INAUDIBLE) city of Benghazi and help the civilians. And the country would even invite in humanitarian organizations like the United Nations.

This was a massive change of track by the government. We haven't seen any of that being put into effect as yet, Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Nic Robertson. Thank you, Nic. We'll continue to watch all of those developments.

In just a few minutes, we're going to talk to Fawaz Gerges. He's the director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics. He believes we're embarking on a long, drawn-out conflict with Gadhafi, a conflict he thinks in the end Gadhafi will survive.

CHETRY: Well, U.S. planes flying high over Japan's overheated nuclear plant trying to find that the situation has improved. However, they're noting it's improved very little. The U.S. is collecting data now on the Fukushima nuclear plant on its own. This happening as crews are desperately continuing their struggle to try to cool down the overheated reactors.

Right now, the focus remains on reactor number three where water in the spent fuel pool is believed to be dangerously low. Officials say that efforts to douse the overheating fuel with water have been only somewhat effective.

And still the fears of a nuclear meltdown spreading and the fears of radiation are also mounting. Senior international correspondent Stan Grant is live in Tokyo.

It doesn't sound very promising in terms of the helicopter drops of water there. They were questioning how successful and how accurate those drops have been able to be. And now they're trying to also tackle that from the ground. What is the update this morning, Stan?

STAN GRANT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they have been continuing that water trying to cool down these reactors and, of course, stop the flow of radiation into the air. That's really the key here, Kiran, is the radiation, particularly the radiation levels. And that's actually just been raised by the Nuclear Safety Agency here. They're now calling this a level five nuclear event.

Now, there are seven different levels. Chernobyl, of course, is level seven. But what they're saying by calling it a level five, they're now saying it is equivalent to Three Mile Island in the United States in 1979. It had previously been rated as a level four one, which would be an event of local consequences. By raising it a level, they are saying now it's an event of wider consequences, talking about a greater release of radiation into the atmosphere. Also, indicating some structural damage to the core of the reactor. And that is absolutely key here because that's where the more nasty radioactive elements live.

Now, remember in recent days, we've had these fires and explosions, where quite often these levels are raised because of an incident like that. So they first rated it a level four about three or four days ago. They just lifted that now as a result of these fires indicating more structural damage and potentially higher radiation -- Kiran.

CHETRY: So what is the -- I guess the real world consequence or action plan of raising the radiation level to a five?

GRANT: Yes, that's a good question now because it does mean greater consequences. It does mean you have to take greater action.

We've been seeing that action in recent days trying to isolate the problem, get more water into the reactors, cool them down so you can actually get in there and see what the real problem is. I think the real headline here is that we now officially are rating this the same as Three Mile Island in 1979. We now have a direct comparison. And if you look at that, the good news, if you can take good news out of an event like this, is that Three Mile Island was contained. The radioactive material was kept within the structure of the building. There were no deaths related directly to it. And even people within a 10-mile radius of that were found to only have suffered low levels, very low levels of radiation. So that's the direct comparison now to Three Mile Island. They'd be hoping for a similar outcome if, in fact, this situation does worsen -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Stan Grant for us this morning in Tokyo. We'll check in with you throughout the morning. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: We told you that earlier this week the Nikkei, the Japanese stock market, has the worst two-day drop since 1987, the crash. But the Nikkei closed up this morning spiking 244 points on the news that the G-7 countries, the group of rich countries in the world, they agreed to intervene in the currency market essentially supporting Japan at this hour. The announcement came last night that they would work with Japan to stabilize the value of the yen. We told you the yen had been spiking to record strength against the dollar earlier this week, and that threatens demand for Japanese exports and actually could hurt its recovery. So G-7 finance ministers, governments stepping in to support Japan at this hour.

CHETRY: Promising news. Obviously, they need the help.

Also a little bit later, coming up at 7:15 Eastern, Christine and I are going to be speaking with Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman. A lot of questions going on. What the U.S. is doing to let's say avoid a similar nuclear crisis? I mean, we have 100 plus plants, nuclear plants here in our country. Also, how would those plants be put into action? And are we getting the full story from what's going on in Japan, as well? So we're going to be speaking with him about all of that.

ROMANS: Meanwhile, emergency crews are called to a D.C. elementary school this week after five students took cocaine. They were all between 8 and 9 years old. The school says one student brought the cocaine to school and shared it with classmates. They were all OK after being checked out by medical staff. Officials aren't sure how much of the drug these 8 and 9-year-old children took. The child who brought the cocaine is facing criminal charges.

CHETRY: Yes, it's a terrifying thing. The report was saying some of them actually did snort it. Some of them just put it in their mouth. And they all had to go to the hospital, but again --

ROMANS: Eight and 9 years old.

CHETRY: Yes. Seems to be OK but that's just -- that's one thing that you don't think that you have to worry about when you're taking your kids to elementary school.

Well, the New York bus driver involved in a deadly weekend crash is being accused of lying to get his driver's license. Officials say Ophadell Williams used several false names and also had a license suspended under one of them. You may remember 15 people were killed in this crash. It happened on Saturday in the Bronx. Williams claims he lost control of the bus because he was sideswiped by a tractor- trailer. That account is being disputed. Some passengers are saying that he fell asleep at the wheel and that at times he was driving erratically.

ROMANS: After laying off 168 police officers, the city of Camden, New Jersey, is hiring 50 of them back. Crimes spiked about 20 percent after those layoffs. The city government struck a $2.5 million deal with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to pay for those additional officers.

CHETRY: All right. Sign of the times changing. Delta Airlines is connecting with passengers in a new way. Starting today, you can check in to your flight through Facebook.

Delta's created a ticket counter app. In addition to check-ins, customers can also see flight status updates and gate numbers. The app is also available on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.

ROMANS: All right.

CHETRY: What's the difference though, like logging in through Facebook rather than just going on Delta's site and doing an online check-in?

ROMANS: I'm not sure, but all I know is that there's no reason for me to be waiting for a plane anymore. And I still wait for planes.

Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Jennifer Delgado is in the extreme weather center.

Good morning, Jennifer.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.

You know, before you know it, you'll be able to actually do weather on Facebook. Facebook is taking over everything, it seems like, doesn't it?

All right. Let's talk about the weather outside. Let's start off in the northeast.

We are dealing with some rain outside. We're only talking about a quarter of an inch of precipitation. Looking at the radar, notice that the temperatures are above freezing. So again, it's just going to be some rain out there. All the way up towards New England, a little bit of freezing rain. But again, that will be changing over. But again, that's going to be moving out of here.

As I show you over towards the Pacific Northwest, really talking about this because this is going to be a problem spot for the next several days. We're going to see serious systems coming through and potentially we're going to be dealing with some very heavy rainfall, potentially even a half a foot of snow working into parts -- as I said, this is going to be a rainy Friday and a rainy weekend ahead for the northeast.

Now, it's not all bad news out there. Let's talk about some of the high temperatures today.

Look at those numbers out there. If you see the orange, that means good news for you. Temperatures actually some of the warmest we've seen, record highs for today. We're expecting the numbers to climb to the lower 80s, and that includes the southeast as well as parts of the northeast, as well. And that means everybody's going to be enjoying this, especially say from Washington, D.C. to New York, as well as all the way down to parts of Texas.

Here's a wider view. You see where the rain is. We're going to talk about some potential rain delays for today if you're going to be flying out. Plus, we'll look at NOAA's spring/flood outlook and I'll tell you what areas could be under the gun for some bad flooding this spring.

CHETRY: And we already had such bad flooding in the winter.

DELGADO: Yes.

CHETRY: This has been a tough year.

DELGADO: Snowmelt.

CHETRY: Yes. Thanks a lot, Jennifer. We'll check in with you a little later.

ROMANS: All right. Up next, taking out Gadhafi. The United States preparing to back Britain and France to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. Our next guest says it won't be quick, it won't be easy, and it may not work.

CHETRY: If you think the economy feels worse than it did two months ago, you're not alone. Coming up, we're "Minding Your Business." Certain things that you need every day are going up and it's not just gas.

Twelve minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: As the United States, Great Britain and France prepare to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, forces loyal to Dictator Moammar Gadhafi are advancing on Benghazi in an attempt to crush a rebel uprising. Air strikes from the West could begin at any time.

And our next guest believes once they start, it may be some time before they stop. Fawaz Gerges is the Director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics. He joins us live from Paris this morning.

Fawaz, thank you for joining us. What -- how does the West proceed under this U.N. resolution? And what pressure does it put on Gadhafi and his sons?

FAWAZ GERGES, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST CENTRE, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Well, I think one point must be made very clear, the resolution is designed to prevent the defeat of the last stronghold of the opposition that is Benghazi. The resolution is not designed to get rid Gadhafi.

I feel that Gadhafi is deeply entrenched in Libya. He has gained the upper hand. He controls most of the territories of Libya. He controls most of the population of Libya almost 80 percent. His forces are dispersed in urban areas even if the West -- even if the United States decides to carry out multiple bombings in the next few hours and next few days. His forces are already in control of the major cities.

The reality is, what the West is trying to do, what the United States is trying to do is to prevent the collapse, the fall of the rebels and the opposition. This is the reality, Gadhafi is there to stay, unfortunately, in Libya.

ROMANS: What do you think about, you know, Nic Robertson made this point that the -- that the language coming from the regime has completely changed. Where it was we're going to crush Benghazi two days ago, now it's we're sending in humanitarian aid. We want to help everyone in the -- in the entire country.

Do you believe this change of tactic? And is this a response to the U.N.?

GERGES: You know, Christine, we know that Gadhafi is a -- is a thug and a nasty man, violent man. I don't think he was prepared to move on against Benghazi. Benghazi is a very difficult city to take. I think he has already positioned himself in most of the urban cities outside Benghazi.

The reality is, the rebels now control only the major city that's Benghazi. What he's trying to do is to basically try to absorb the shock of the U.N. Security Council resolution. But the big point is what the resolution does, it internationalizes the internal struggle in Libya. Libya now is an effect of civil war. This is a very prolonged struggle.

In the short-term and the medium term, I think Gadhafi is in a strong position. In the long-term, his position is very fragile. Because remember, the noose is tightening around his neck. The West and the international community now is all over Libya. They might be taking military actions. They have frozen his financial assets. He cannot bring mercenaries into Libya.

So while he can survive in the short-term and medium-term, in the long-term, his position is untenable. But the reality is, he's trying to position himself in order to survive, and whether the new storm that has been unleashed by the international community and the United Nations.

ROMANS: So far it's a resolution. What happens -- what do we -- when do we see concrete actions from the West? Whose move is it? Is it -- is it his move to provoke them? Or is it their move to strike?

GERGES: Well, remember now, Gadhafi is going to be very careful. In the next, you know, 48 hours and next few days. He realizes that the international community means business.

But I am also impressed by how wise President Obama has been in order to resist the temptation of using massive force. Remember, Christine, force has unforeseen consequences and also predictable consequences. How many civilian casualties are we willing -- are we willing to take in Libya? Because most of his forces are dispersed in urban areas.

Also, the military moves by the West provide also a public relation coup for Gadhafi. In his speech yesterday, he already says that this is part of American and Western --

ROMANS: Right.

GERGES: -- conspiracy to control Libya. He's positioning -- he's positioning the Libyans and the Arab people to say, well, look, this is a part of Western and American imperialism against Libya.

I mean, the reality is, he has mastered the art of contradictions. First, he says it's al Qaeda, now he's saying the Americans and the West in the same camp. But he doesn't care. This particular man is willing to bring the temple on his head and everyone else in Libya.

And finally -- and finally, the reason why the United States and the West should be careful about using massive force because also there are some contradictions in Western policies. Here we take actions against Libya, against the Gadhafi regime. What do we do vis- a-vis Bahrain?

ROMANS: Right.

GERGES: How do we deal with America's allies -- that is United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia? And that's why, I think --

ROMANS: Very good points.

GERGES: -- the position of the Obama administration is very sensitive.

ROMANS: Very good points. Fawaz Gerges, thank you very much for joining us from Paris.

Kiran, fascinating -- these developments just beginning right now -- Kiran.

CHETRY: That's right. Christine, thanks.

Ahead in the AMERICAN MORNING, where technology meets humanity, how Google is trying to help people search for loved ones missing in Japan.

Also, traces of radiation detected on flights from Japan to the U.S. What caused it and why it may just be a false alarm?

Twenty-one minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-three minutes past the hour right now.

You'll soon, unfortunately, be paying more for things that you need every day, like your coffee fix. Maxwell House coffee prices now up 56 percent since last May. The company just announced its fourth price hike in the last year. Ground coffee is now 70 cents more expensive per pound.

Also, you've had your pricey coffee, and then you've got to change your baby. That's going to cost you more, as well, too. Kimberly-Clark is raising prices on diapers and toilet paper. So if they're not potty trained (INAUDIBLE) it's still going to cost you more.

Both companies are upping prices to keep pace with the rising cost of raw materials, and we're going to have to break it to our 3- year-olds, Christine. It's time to go on the pot.

ROMANS: And, you know, kids are going to have to drink less coffee so they don't have to need all those diapers and toilet paper.

More people think the economy's in a pretty rough shape right now. More think that it's in rough shape than did so at the beginning of the year, which sort of surprises me because stocks have been up at a two-year high.

Carmen Wong-Ulrich is here to tell us why. She's "Minding Your Business".

CARMEN WONG-ULRICH, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: Yes. It's because it's all about our checking account first, you know?

ROMANS: That's right.

ULRICH: So, back in January, CNN/Research Opinion Poll, 24 percent of Americans thought the economic conditions in this country were good. Now, that was January, and it was the highest number since 2008. Well, now that number has dropped to 16 percent.

Two big reasons. It's all about the job market and gas prices.

The new poll results show unemployment is top of our worry list. Thirty-eight percent of Americans say that it's the most important economic issue. Twenty-eight percent say it's the federal deficit, 19 percent gas prices, followed by tax mortgages, and the stock market down with that one percent.

CHETRY: Dead last. ULRICH: Now asked if the increase in gas prices has caused you hardship, 17 percent of Americans say it's caused a severe economic hardship, and 45 percent -- these are high numbers -- say it's moderate hardship, 36 percent no hardship.

Listen, tight budgets means more hardship. Three quarters of those with household incomes less than $50,000, of course, say this is tremendous hardship. It really, really stretches and forces your wallet to just get around all these price (INAUDIBLE).

CHETRY: It's also the reality check that every single day we say the Dow's up. The Dow's down. The Dow's up. The Dow's down.

But for the large majority of people, that is not the indicator (INAUDIBLE) --

ULRICH: For -- for most people, for most Americans, for most families, this is really just about your checking account. This is can I get the income in there to pay the bills? And how can I pay all these bills if everything's going up from coffee to diapers to gas? Everything's going up, so it's very, very tight.

ROMANS: Those stretch commuters, the people who commute 50 miles and more everyday, they get hammered by those high gas prices. So --

ULRICH: I know. And this is when --

CHETRY: It's very important to try to figure out creative ways, car pooling, you know, other things.

ROMANS: That's right.

CHETRY: I mean, it's --

ULRICH: Absolutely.

ROMANS: Thanks, Carmen.

ULRICH: Thank you.

CHETRY: Thanks.

Well, we've seen the damage and the destruction after Japan's earthquake and tsunami. A new crisis, though, is -- is developing right now. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to explain the difficult situation for medical rescue teams in Japan.

ROMANS: And the Google tool that's bringing some peace to those desperately searching for survivors in Japan. We're going to show you how it works, how it's helping reunite people in Japan.

It's 26 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: We're crossing the half hour right now, and we're following two big stories, both the situation in Japan and also a developing situation out of Libya.

The U.S. right now is preparing to join Great Britain and France in enforcing a "no-fly" zone over Libya. Now, it is not clear if and when air strikes against the Gadhafi regime will happen.

Yesterday, the U.N. Security Council voted 10-0 to authorize, quote, "all necessary measures" short of occupation to stop the slaughter of the Libyan civilians.

ROMANS: The level of radiation at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant now raised to a five, the warning the level. Officials say that means a situation that could have, quote, "wider consequences." Level five is the same level as the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant event in 1979.

It has now been confirmed that more than 6,500 people have died in Japan's earthquake and tsunami that followed. More than 10,000 are still missing.

CHETRY: Yes. And Stan Grant told us. So, when they talk about what level it is, seven being the highest.

ROMANS: Seven being what -- the Chernobyl event was a seven. That's right.

CHETRY: So -- all right. Well, the crisis in Japan has taken a toll on the Nikkei, but Japanese markets are rebounding this morning after the U.S., Britain, Canada, and the European central bank all intervened to help weaken the yen. The Dow bounced back too, posting a 163-point gain after two days of steep losses.

ROMANS: Yesterday's -- or shelters packed with hundreds of thousands of people, roads blocked with rubble after the massive earthquake. The ever present danger of radiation poisoning, simply the situation is so terribly grim for those in Japan and also for the medical crews running just to save these lives.

Chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, live in Tokyo this morning to talk about the challenges that medical teams are coming up against -- Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think they're starting to get a better sense of the manpower issues. That was a real issue for some time, some of these hard-hit areas are just simply not having enough doctors, enough nurses. So, that's starting to get better.

But, you know, it's remarkable still, some of the most basic supplies not making it to these areas. And when I say basic, I'm talking about food, water, blankets, but also the medications -- daily medications so many of these people were on.

As we talked about before, the -- a lot of the people who were most affected by this were elderly. And there's a lot of the communities up and down the coast, the northeast, were sort of retirement communities. So they need these medications.

So, you have the situation now, which is just unbelievable where people survived at great risk to themselves. They survived the tsunami, they survived the earthquake. They have these anxieties about the radiation.

But now, they need to get medical care. That's pretty basic. And the supplies are in certain parts of the country, hard-hit areas over there. The dots need to be connected. And hopefully, that's what's going to take place over the next few days.

CHETRY: The other challenge, Sanjay, is medical personnel, right? Are they able to operate a freely -- meaning, do they have what they need? Are they able to take care of people?

GUPTA: Well, you know -- I mean, a large part of that is, you know, simply getting those supplies for sure. I mean, I think that the -- for a few days -- and the stories were heartbreaking, Kiran. You had, you know, one doctor, a couple of nurses trying to take care of lots of patients and you have these unbelievable situations where, for example, elderly were being transported from, you know, the area around the nuclear plants, taken to the school or, you know, they were in hospitals, nursing homes, being taken to a school as an evacuation center.

And these elderly people -- I mean, some of them actually dying in the bus on the way there. It was freezing cold. They got to the gymnasium of the school and it was still cold. They didn't have their medications and more people dying.

So, again, you know, it's just a situation where it's -- thing after thing. You know, they survive all the tragedies that have happened over the last week, but then they simply cannot get the supplies they need. The doctors -- it's heartbreaking for them because they cannot take care of these patients the best way they want to because of that lack.

CHETRY: That is -- that is heartbreaking, you're right. Is it simply logistics? That it's not -- just trying to get that medication to them because of all of the infrastructure problems?

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, you know, look -- to be fair, this is a country just devastated by an earthquake and a tsunami. The roadways are very hard to pass in certain places. So, you know, getting from point A to point B is more challenging than it sounds. But, clearly, people are starting to do that. And, again, you know, I've been getting all these e-mails and tweets saying that there's so many tons of supplies in port cities that have not been affected by tsunami but they're not getting to the places that need it as of yet.

And I can't emphasize how cold it is. Again, I mean, just -- it's so cold outside. And these people -- many of them don't have a structure. They're not living anywhere that actually is protecting them. I mean, even to get blankets, or something to protect them from these elements is so important.

ROMANS: Sanjay, it's -- thanks for that report. And one of the things that just breaks my heart about this too is they're still survival mode after a whole week, Sanjay. And you got a high percentage of elderly people in this country. So, there are different challenges, as you pointed for the doctors and nurses.

And it's -- the story hasn't ended. It's not ending, and the whole road is going to be so difficult from here. And I feel like we're still in the search and recovery mode even though it is heading into the second week, just trying to stabilize the situation for people.

CHETRY: Ten thousand people are still missing.

ROMANS: That's right.

GUPTA: That's right.

ROMANS: Thanks, Sanjay.

CHETRY: Well, we all just saw how social media helped fuel the revolution in Egypt and in other countries, as well. I mean, Iran, just last year. Well, now Google is trying to help people search for missing loved ones in Japan.

Jason Carroll joins us now with that part of the story.

Again, we talk about this, you know, whole issue of people missing, people still trying to connect with loved ones and holding out hope.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you heard Sanjay talk about all of the challenges that people are faced with. This is really a way to help people get in touch with each other. It's called Person Finder.

It's basically Google's version of an online message board. Anyone can post questions asking for information about a missing person in Japan and that person can try and answer back. So, we're going to show you how it works.

Here's how it works. You just go to Google's main page, then you click on resources related to the crisis in Japan, you scroll to the Person Finder box and either click on "I am looking for someone" or "I have information about someone."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON TANZ, SENIOR EDITOR, "WIRED" MAGAZINE: At any point, if I hear about somebody, I can add that information to the database and then, hours later or weeks later, someone who happens to be searching for that can find that information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Well, the idea for Google's Person Finder came about after another major disaster, the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Google wanted to help people reach out to each other and their engineers came up with the idea for the people searching Web site. Tech observers say Haiti taught Google the importance of getting their site up quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNNMONEY.COM: After they developed the Person Finder for the Haiti earthquake, it took 72 hours to get that live. But with this Japan Person Finder, it took just one hour to get that done. So, it really shows how they've been able to develop the process and really tweak it so that they can get this done very, very fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Well, Person Finder has gotten some powerful results. So far, Google is tracking more than 318,000 records, such as this one about Samantha Harrison. This one basically says Sam called from AFV at 6:45 a.m. and she is OK. The kids are OK.

There's another one from Mark Smith saying, "Mark, I saw you're OK. This is great news, hang in there, we're all sending our best wishes to you, trying to call, et cetera. Let us know if you need anything."

Now, there is one potential drawback to this site. Google does not verify who is posting the information. And when I checked online, there were some complaints about people posting inaccurate updates.

So, if you do receive information about a loved one on Person Finder, you should try to follow up, obviously, and get official word from a government source.

You know, they also use this during the earthquake in New Zealand. So, this is a source that they're going to be using probably the next time we see a crisis. And they're going to probably, obviously, try to make it better each time.

ROMANS: They've been asking people in the shelters in Japan to take pictures of the list of people in those shelters.

CARROLL: Exactly. Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: So, I mean, this is a way to get the information just sitting in this one remote place and get it out to the world.

CARROLL: Obviously, yes. So, when you've got those shelters, you know, people go in. They sign up. They get their names on there.

You know, through Person Finder, you can see if perhaps a loved one's name showed up on the Web site.

ROMANS: All right. Jason Carroll -- thanks, Jason.

CARROLL: OK.

ROMANS: Up next: two men who survived an atomic bombing more than six decades ago are now reliving a nuclear nightmare in Japan. We'll have their story.

CHETRY: And this video probably brought tears to your eyes. Japan's tsunami victims, the four-legged ones, two dogs, one faithful to his companion to the very end, refusing to leave, putting his paw on the injured dog. We're going to tell you what happened to them.

Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.

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CHETRY: Forty-one minutes past the hour.

In the past 24 hours, radiation alarms have gone off in airports Chicago, Dallas and Seattle, of course, making people worry that this has anything to do with what's going on in Japan. Well, homeland security officials saying, no, it doesn't have anything to do with the Japanese situation. They say that the alarms were tripped by medical cargo on at least two planes. Officials say that they're checking all incoming flights from Japan for radiation.

Passenger that we spoke to said they didn't mind the delays.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

SUSAN SKINNER, PASSENGER: Every bag you checked is being screened for radiation. So, it's taking a long time.

GEORGE HESLEY, PASSENGER: It's slowed us up, other than that, no. And I'm not really concerned about Japan. I'd go back. I'm going back in two weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

CHETRY: Homeland security agents say there have been no positive tests for radiation on any incoming planes that were caused by the nuclear crisis in Japan.

ROMANS: When America bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki more than six decades ago, Japan became the home to the birth of the atomic age. Now, the Japanese people are being forced to cope with their second nuclear disaster. For some, the ongoing crisis in Fukushima is bringing back haunting memories.

Here's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Japan races to control the emergency at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Nervous residents flee from the growing crisis. For the elderly, running from a disaster, this is their second nuclear crisis of their lifetimes.

"It's so scary," says the 75-year-old evacuee.

For this generation, this all echoes of 66 years ago when these men were children. They survived Japan's first nuclear crisis when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending World War II.

"It felt like being hit by a baseball bat in the head and that was only the beginning," says Mikiso Iwasa. He was just 16 years old then, living less than a mile from Hiroshima's epicenter. Among the estimated 140,000 killed, his mother, his sister, every single one of his relatives except for one aunt.

(on camera): Are you a living example of the price of nuclear technology?

(voice-over): "I am," he says. "We are the first victims of the nuclear era."

As he watches the crisis at Fukushima and the impact on their generation now hit twice by nuclear emergencies, he says, "I strongly question whether nuclear energy is helping peace and life."

Both Iwasa and Terumi Tanaka believe nuclear energy should not exist especially in earthquake and tsunami-prone Japan.

(on camera): Do you believe the benefit the nuclear energy outweighs the cost?

(voice-over): "For me, no," says Tanaka, only 13 years old when the bomb fell on Nagasaki. He was less than two miles from the epicenter, spared from the burns, but he sees the long-term health impact of radiation.

"Nuclear power unless made 100 percent security should never be allowed in any form near mankind," they say. "Japan's past and presence," says Tanaka, "proves it."

(on camera): Japan has seen darker days, rose from the ashes to become this, a world class country and economic superpower. The World War II survivors believe that Japan will emerge from this nuclear crisis. They just wonder if it will be with new lessons learned.

(voice-over): At age 81, Iwasa still suffers from radiation- related health problems, but they're nothing, he says, compared to the constant nightmares of his dying mother that haunt him.

"It's our hope to have us as the final victims," he says. "I hope it won't ever happen to your generation."

Kyung Lah, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: And that history in Japan, one of the reasons why it chose not to be a nuclear weapons power. Nuclear (ph) energy, yes, but it never had ambitions for its own defense.

CHETRY: Right. And then, just to see what's playing out now -- and seeing the way that the elderly are being affected as we've been talking about is heart breaking.

ROMANS: It is.

CHETRY: Really is. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to lighten things up a bit. We're taking a look at the forecast for the weekend. Expecting, at least, prepares (ph) to the northeast. Some temperatures we have not seen in quite a long time. Forty-five minutes past the hour.

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ROMANS: Shot of Columbus Circle in the background of Central Park, and boy, it is going to be packed today. This is what happens the first nice day. It's going to be 70, by the way, for a high today in New York. New Yorkers all go out there in their bathing suits. They don't care what it says on the calendar. They just want to get a little bit of sun and warm weather after a long, tough winter.

It's about 12 minutes to the top of the hour. 6:48 in the east. Let's get a quick check of the weather. I keep saying it. Jennifer Delgado, I keep saying, the weather's morning headlines.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, that's right. I had a little trouble with your name earlier this week, anyway. So, hey, we all have our bad days, don't we? Let's start off right now talking about some of the travel delays out there. If you're going to be flying into any one of the airports out in New York, you can expect some delays today for about an hour, and for Philadelphia, about 30 to 60-minute delay.

And that's because we're going to be dealing with some strong winds throughout parts of the northeast. And, really, it's going to a nice day in New York, but right now, we're dealing with some rain moving through parts of the Northeast. You can see through New England, coming down pretty heavy through parts of Maine and out towards the plains.

We're dealing with just some light rain and a little bit of freezing rain and snow. You can see through parts of Denver, but we're really watching the plains right now for the potential for some flooding problems, especially as we go farther into the next several weeks ahead. And you can see some of the warnings and watches in place right now, even some in the Midwest. And speaking of the Midwest, let's go to some recent flooding video along the Ohio River.

This coming out of Indiana. And you can see, yes, bad times there. They're dealing with some river flooding there in the moderate flood stage. We've been talking about flooding because we're starting to get some of that snow melt. We're actually dealing with warming temperatures, and I want to show you what NOAA has released, and this came out yesterday, their flood risk for the next several weeks ahead. For springtime, anywhere you see in red, this is where we're going to see the highest risk. This is the Mississippi River streaming all the way down towards Missouri, down towards Louisiana, and also the Missouri River, and that includes parts of the Dakotas. So, that's the area that's going to be dealing with the hardest and the possibility of the heaviest risk for flooding as we go through the next several weeks ahead. We're going to take a look at your temperatures coming up in just a short while. Let's send it back over to you, two.

ROMANS: All right. Jennifer Delgado, thank you.

DELGADO: You're welcome.

CHETRY: We're also following our top stories are just minutes away including a latest on the nuclear crisis in Japan. The U.S. now taking a closer looking at its facilities. Are we ready for any type of catastrophic event? We're going to get answers from the White House briefing room coming up.

ROMANS: And a change that could affect millions of people who get their news for free online. The "New York Times" now charging -- oh, is it the beginning of the end of free news on the internet? Who else could follow?

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ROMANS: Just into CNN, all commercial air traffic has now been shut down in Libya. This comes hours after the U.N. Security Council voted to impose a no-fly zone in Libya and possible military action to stop Gadhafi's brutal crackdown on his own people.

CHETRY: In the middle of all of the devastation and heartache in Japan, we got a lesson in loyalty and love from two dogs. They were rescued in the tsunami, one refusing to leave his injured best friend behind. Jeanne Moos recounts their terrible ordeal and miraculous rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one of those where are they now stories amid all the human suffering in Japan, a pair of tsunami-surviving dogs stood out. Is the dog dead, wondered the Fuji TV team that stumbled on this scene as the healthier dog seemed to stick by his injured buddy. Moments later, proof of life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGE

MOOS: Soon this video was rocketing around the web, and the bedraggle but seemingly loyal dog became an iconic picture on the Facebook page of Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue in support.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We actually tried to go and rescue these two dogs after hearing about them. MOOS: Isabella Gallaon-Aoki and others packed up a van, headed for the devastated Sendai area to see what they could do for pets left behind in evacuations.

MOOS (on-camera): Finding human survivors is hard enough. Imagine, trying to track down a pair of dogs.

MOOS (voice-over): They went at it like detectives trying to find the building behind the dogs in the video, they ended up here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the school that we think is the elementary school that we saw in the background of the original footage of the dogs.

MOOS: But no dogs, and that turned out to be good news because animal rescuers believe this man, animal rights supporter and dog food importer, Ken Sakurai got his friends to get the dogs.

ASHLEY FRUNO, PETA ACTIVIST: He was able to get into the area with the help of two men on motorcycles.

MOOS: That's Ashley Fruno, a member of PETA who's also in Sendai, though, she's better known for drawing a crowd at PETA protest. On his Facebook page, Ken Sakurai says the injured dog is in a vet clinic while the healthier one is in a nearby shelter. But please know that those two are just the tip of the iceberg, there are more and we need help.

Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue has raised over $100,000, much of it due to man's best friend acting like best friends to each other.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: You know, a lot of people will say why are we caring so much about dogs, there's such human suffering, and we're certainly not discounting that at all, but there are also some reports that people are actually donating more to relief efforts in Japan, in general, because of this video and because of seeing what the dogs are going through. So, in the end, maybe, it is helping people, too.

ROMANS: All right. The top stories right after the break.

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