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American Morning
Black Smoke Rising From Reactor Three; Enter iPad's Rival; Tap Water in Tokyo Deemed Unfit for Infants; The Royal Wedding; Burrito Rage
Aired March 23, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of developments happening overnight we want to get you up to speed this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.
In Japan now, a disturbing new discovery overnight. It could be a sign that the nuclear crisis there may be getting worse.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi.
A CNN exclusive: President Obama defends America's military role in Libya and talks about whether he deserved that Nobel Peace Prize.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans.
Can anyone take down Apple's iPad? Research in Motion is going to try to with its own new tablet PC. We'll tell you where you can get your hands on it and how it will cost.
Let's get started. AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: All right. Good morning. It is Wednesday.
CHETRY: You know, yesterday, we thought we were making some progress in Japan. We heard that they had restored power to a couple of the reactors, and then again this morning, news that it has taken a turn for the worse.
ROMANS: That's right. First, let's get to the disturbing developments from the nuclear power crisis in Japan. Black smoke is rising from one of the reactors at Daiichi's power plant.
And dangerous levels of radiation have been discovered in the tap water in Tokyo. Levels in the tap water there are double the legal limit for infants to drink. Tokyo is 150 miles from the crippled Daiichi power station, the likely source, of course, of this contamination. Residents are being warned not to allow babies to drink tap water.
And there are radiation issues with the food in Japan, as well. We've been telling you about this. And now, the Food and Drug Administration, they are banning all milk products, vegetables, and fruit from four prefectures closest to the Daiichi power station from entering the United States. Anna Coren is live in Tokyo.
Anna, what do you know now about the black smoke that's coming from Daiichi's reactor number three? What is that black smoke? And what does it mean? Do we know yet?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, no, we don't know, and that's the alarming thing. It started a couple of hours ago
We had thought that things were under control at reactor three. Earlier, smoke was barely visible. And then a couple of hours ago, those black plumes were seen billowing from reactor three.
TEPCO, the company that owns the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says that something is obviously burning. They don't know what it is. Workers have been evacuated from the site. No report of injuries at this stage, but certainly, an alarming development.
This, of course, is happening while they're trying to restore those power cables to the reactors. They're at the -- at the reactor, but they haven't got those pumps working just yet. That's something that they're working very hard to do.
But, obviously, the smoke just causes more and more problems, more and more delays, Christine.
ROMANS: Are the workers still in that facility? Are they away from that facility while they try to figure out what to do next?
COREN: Well, (INAUDIBLE) 50 workers into the premises early this morning. We believe that only the workers around that site, around reactor three had to -- had to evacuate. But we're waiting on word from TEPCO. Of course, we're keeping in touch with the officials there.
ROMANS: All right. Anna Coren -- thank you so much, Anna.
VELSHI: Two workers at the Daiichi power plant, the Daiichi Fukushima power plant, have been reportedly been injured trying to restore power to the crippled number one reactor. Japan's news agency is not providing details.
Meanwhile, hundreds of workers continue rotating through the facility in shifts trying to power that plant up and get its cooling system going. These are pictures that have just been released by the Tokyo Power Company showing that the damage -- well, you can see the damage has been done. That's reactor number four.
Two plant workers spoke to Japanese TV yesterday. They sounded cautiously optimistic about the operation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It has settled down quite a lot compared to the beginning and we could even begin to see a bright hope that maybe somehow it would work out in a little bit. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are constantly switching over all the time since the work cannot be stopped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: At 6:30 Eastern, we will be joined by nuclear engineer Lake Barrett. Lake surprised the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's response to the Three Mile Island accident. We're going to get his take on how things are going in Fukushima.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, federal regulators will make New York's Indian Point nuclear power plant their top priority as they conduct a nationwide review to see if U.S. plants are vulnerable to the same type of earthquake that hit Japan. The Indian Point station in Buchanan, New York, it's about 25 miles from New York City, has two operating nuclear reactors and it sits right on top of the Ramapo Fault line.
And NRC, that's Nuclear Regulatory Commission, filed a report uncovering a higher safety risk at the plant than previously thought. And that's gotten the attention of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a long-time opponent of Indian Point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: The world has changed. Reevaluate. Reevaluate, and look at the situation and decide whether or not you should grant this facility a license today, with what you know today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now, we had a chance to speak with officials from Energy Corp on our show last week. They're the ones that own Indian Point. They say they welcome a safety review.
Twenty-seven nuclear reactors, including Indian Point, have been singled out for inspections by the NRC.
CNN's Allan Chernoff has been granted exclusive access inside the Indian Point plant and we're going to have his report coming up in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: Another morning of explosions in Tripoli and heavy anti- aircraft fire, as the coalition continues to hammer Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya. As of last night, the U.S. and allies have flown more than 300 missions over Libya and fired 162 cruise missiles.
One former Gadhafi official now says the dictator is on the ropes. But two days after his compound was damaged in an air strike, he came out and said he is winning and called others to join the fight on his side. And attacks on civilians reportedly continue.
The cost of this new war is already adding up. So far, the United States has fired a quarter of a billion dollars in Tomahawk cruise missiles. A military analyst says the price tag to replace that one F-15 that went down over in Libya could be $150 million. Fuel prices for each jet run 10 grand an hour. And the price tag to fully establish the no-fly zone could almost pay for health care, $800 million.
And we just put a piece out on CNNMoney.com, about how it is that we are likely for the cost of this war. You can check it out on Money.com.
President Obama says the U.S. role in this mission in Libya has already been diminished. All the other members of the coalition are maintaining the no-fly zone. So, the big question is: what is next?
President Obama sat down with CNN Espanol's Juan Carlos Lopez in El Salvador.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Can you -- will you give military support to the rebels?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, the -- you know, obviously, we're discussing with the coalition what steps can be taken. I think that our hope is that the first thing that happens once we've cleared this space is that the rebels are able to start discussing how they organize themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The president also said it was possible that Gadhafi could hunker down in the face of this no-fly zone.
CHETRY: Yes.
And also new this morning, we're switching gears here, we're talking about the musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark." You know, that we talked a lot about how it's had problems. You remember the famous fall by the poor stunt man.
Well, now, they say another person has suffered an injury.
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: A spokesman says the woman who played the female lead Arachne was hurt during an onstage battle scene. The $65 million show has made headlines again and again because of recurring delays, cast injuries. The one I was mentioning was when Chris Tierney, a stuntman, fell 30 feet from a platform in December. He had a big scare. He ended up being OK.
"Spider-Man" is still in previews. It's scheduled to open in early summer.
ROMANS: All right. So, the calendar says spring, but some parts of the country, including where I live, are having a wintery flashback. Blizzard warnings in the upper Midwest didn't stop a couple of guys in Duluth, Minnesota, from surf -- look at this --
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: -- surfing on waves on Lake Superior.
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: That is brave, crazy, cool -- I'm not sure.
We're also getting snow right here in the Northeast.
Jacqui Jeras --
VELSHI: Also in Minnesota.
ROMANS: Yes. Now, Jacqui, when you were growing up in Minnesota, did you head up to Duluth in March to surf the big waves?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's crazy. That water's like 38 degrees.
CHETRY: I know. I guess those wet suits do the trick, right? The guy didn't even seem cold.
JERAS: You have to embrace the weather when you live there because if you don't get out and get fun with it, you're just miserable. So, I guess that's his excuse. But, yes, winds were really wicked in northern Minnesota yesterday. We're talking 50 to 60-mile-per-hour gusts. So, really brutal and the snow is still coming down.
Now, Duluth's got pretty lucky, just to the south of you where the heavy accumulating snow has been. And you can see that snaking all throughout the Midwest, and yes, into the Northeast now, as well.
We're going to see some heavy accumulations into northern parts of Pennsylvania, central parts of New York today. We're talking six to 10 inches, maybe even a foot in the Poconos. New York City, yes, you get a little bit of light snow right now, but I think it's just going to be for your morning commute. Most of this should be melting on contact. So, we don't it will be big deal for you other than a big travel headache.
Severe thunderstorms on the south side of this system, watch out for that today in Cincinnati down towards Louisville, and just windy, cold conditions coming in back behind that front. We've got the conga line of storms out west guys. We'll talk about that and show you some amazing video. That's coming up in the back half hour.
VELSHI: The conga line of storms. Jacqui, thanks very much.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Well, it's spring apparently.
All right. Coming up next: questions about who is in charge and when it's going to end. We're obviously talking about Libya, and whether it's going to be the end for Moammar Gadhafi. The president is taking a lot of heat from both sides of aisle about his decision to strike Libya.
We're live in Washington with a closer look at his powers as commander-in-chief.
CHETRY: BlackBerry hoping to take a bite out of iPad's success. But is their new product on point? We're going to talk about it.
ROMANS: Also coming up, as Ali told you, sex can kill you. But --
VELSHI: Don't hang that on me.
ROMANS: No, I'm saying you were the one that first brought us to this --
VELSHI: I was reporting somebody else's news.
CHETRY: And don't feel bad, it's not just relations, it's also treadmill.
ROMANS: There you go. We're going to explain to you to whom sex could be deadly.
It is 10 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It is now 13 minutes past the hour.
We want to give you an update on the story that broke right here on AMERICAN MORNING yesterday, a pretty amazing story of what it was like to survive behind enemy lines. We're getting new details about the heroic and fast-moving rescue of two U.S. airmen who were forced to bail from their F-15E Strike Eagle over Libya yesterday after mechanical failure is what they believe happened.
Here's some video of the wreckage. The rescue involved dozens of Marine -- at least, nine Marine aircraft and two dropped bombs. Both the pilot and the weapons systems officer ejected safely from the plane and ended up suffering only minor injuries.
But the scary moments came because they were separated. The pilot was rescued first. Marines carriers dropped two 5,000-pound laser guided bombs between him and oncoming crowd of people at one point. The U.S. did not know whether those were enemies, Gadhafi supporters or not.
And the other crew member was given shelter by anti-Gadhafi rebels until help came from him -- Christine.
ROMANS: Kiran, some Democrats are saying that the president's Libya policy is in shambles. The administration turned on a dime last week, going against the first instinct and ordered the use of force. Some in Congress are saying President Obama didn't have the power to do that.
But he's not the first commander-in-chief to do so without coming to Capitol Hill first.
Jim Acosta is live in Washington.
The president's own party giving him grief on this, right, Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And the president is talking about winding down the U.S. role in Libya, Christine. But that may not satisfy some of his critics in Congress. There are both Democrats and Republicans who complain the Obama administration has spent more time consulting with the United Nations and the Arab League than it has with Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much, everybody. Let's get to work!
ACOSTA (voice-over): When Senator Barack Obama launched his campaign for the White House, he promised to end the war in Iraq, calling the conflict a tragic mistake.
OBAMA: No amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies in the heart of someone else's civil war.
ACOSTA: Four years later, President Obama launched air strikes in the middle of a civil war in Libya to enforce a no-fly zone authorized by the United Nations. Now it's Mr. Obama's use of force that's at issue in Congress.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: The president exceeded his authority. And it's very clear. What to do about it? Cut off funds for Libya.
ACOSTA: From liberal anti-war Democrat Dennis Kucinich to Tea Party favorite Republican Jason Chaffetz, a growing number of lawmakers across the political spectrum are asking whether the president overstepped his constitutional authority.
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: I just see no clear and present danger the United States of America consequently. I just don't think we should have injected ourselves.
ACOSTA: Opponents of the president's use of force point to Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution that states Congress shall have the power to declare war. But Mr. Obama's supporters note the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which allows presidents to take military action as long as Congress is notified within 48 hours.
JONATHAN TURLEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: The reason this happens is because presidents have found willing members of Congress that want to avoid responsibility. These are the same members that voted on the resolution of the Iraq War and later said that's really not what we meant.
ACOSTA: On Monday, President Obama sent a letter to Congressional leaders stating he was exercising his constitutional authority in Libya as Commander In Chief. BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We can stand up to and - and stop ethnic cleansing.
ACOSTA: The White House says it's no different from President Clinton's decision in the '90s to bomb the Serbs to stop a humanitarian crisis in Bosnia.
BEN RHODES, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: He did not have the Congressional authorization, but he did provide a letter consistent with the War Powers Act.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: So there you go. A letter apparently satisfies that obligation according to the White House.
Now, Democratic critics of the president's use of force are not buying that argument. But they're also going to great lengths, we should mention, to make clear this is not personal. As Congressman Kucinich put it, he likes his president, but he loves his constitution. And we heard other sentiments coming out of the Democratic Party yesterday - Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Jim Acosta. Thank you, Jim.
VELSHI: All right. Over the last two years, we've been seeing a lot of history coming out of Detroit. The bankruptcy of the -
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: -- the big three automakers, some big changes. Now, more history. The Motor City making more history. This one, nothing to be proud of. We've got some startling figures out of Detroit this morning. We'll talk about it on the other side.
CHETRY: And do you love your iPad? Would you will be willing to maybe try something new? Something smaller? Something that's trying to compete with it?
VELSHI: This thing is cool.
CHETRY: Yes. BlackBerry has a new tablet. You still couldn't get it to fit in your -
VELSHI: I couldn't get it to fit in my pocket, but it was close.
CHETRY: Pretty close. You need either bigger pockets or a smaller device.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: It's 18 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: New evidence this morning of the staggering decline of a once thriving American city. Census figures show Detroit lost 25 percent of its population in a single decade from 2000 to 2010. That's the largest percentage drop for any American city in history outside of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Detroit was America's fourth largest city at the height of the auto industry. Now, with 714,000 people, Detroit plunges to 18th.
CHETRY: Well, the maker of BlackBerry wants a piece of the iPad? Right? The pie, at least.
VELSHI: Yes. It's a - it's a big pie.
CHETRY: It is. What do they sell? One every two seconds or something insane?
Carmen Wong-Ulrich is "Minding Your Business" this morning. So this is called PlayBook. A little bit smaller, but -
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is called the PlayBook.
ROMANS: How can we convince people -
ULRICH: Yes, they want a piece of this big pie. Well, that's the key here. Can we convince people to buy it?
So the battle of the tablet computers is on. Research In Motion, these guys are the makers of the (INAUDIBLE) BlackBerry, announced their iPad competitor, the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Now, it goes on sale April 19th and it matches the iPad's price of $499 for a baseline model. It's going to be sold from ATT, Sprint, Verizon and pre-orders are accepted today at Best Buy.
Now, the PlayBook is smaller than the iPad, seven-inch screen. It has a Wi-Fi but only if it's tethered through the BlackBerry for now. That may change over the summer.
Now, all this is a huge shift in how we compute. The PlayBook is just one more competitors to the iPad. The iPad sold nearly 15 million last year, 15 million units. And CNNMoney is reporting that 102 new tablet computers are coming out this year into a very, very hungry market. It's projected that by 2014, 200 million tablet computers are going to be sold each year. And two-thirds of all computers sold will be tablets and smartphones. And key here to understand too, short- term.
In terms of getting those iPads. We had a lag time when they first came out of two to three weeks. Now with what's going on in Japan, there are a lot of suppliers that are behind. The wait time is four to five weeks over the summer. It's projected to be close to six to eight weeks. They have such a huge part of the market. Are we going to go by all these other -
VELSHI: But those screens and those semiconductors -
ULRICH: Yes. VELSHI: -- they still come out of Japan even for other makers. So I'm not sure -
ULRICH: Exactly.
VELSHI: -- everybody's going to be able to meet that demand, because you can't get an iPad, you go get something else.
ULRICH: Exactly. And this is the thing. The key is the iPad, it's not just that brand or that experience, it is an experience. It's a different interface, people love it, and it's definitely been a huge game changer.
VELSHI: Were you - were you here? We tried that.
CHETRY: We were here.
VELSHI: We played with the PlayBook a little bit.
CHETRY: Yes. And we had - we had one of the techies I think from Gizmodo on. And he was telling us that for gamers they like it.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Some of them are more geared toward what people use it for. I mean, we sit here and still try to type on the - on the iPad.
ULRICH: Sure. But, you know, for $60, you can get a rollout keyboard which you just plug in. There's so many different ways that you can use it. So definitely the netbook market is going to be gone and replaced by these tablets.
VELSHI: Yes. I like the size of the - the PlayBook.
ULRICH: Do you like the smaller?
VELSHI: I tried it but I can't put in my pocket -
CHETRY: You feel the devices (ph).
VELSHI: - my inside pocket. It didn't get - it's a little bigger than that. But I can get bigger pockets.
ROMANS: Thanks, Carmen.
VELSHI: Good to see you, Carmen.
ROMANS: Carmen Wong Ulrich.
VELSHI: OK. I just want to be clear on this because Christine seems to be hanging this on me. This is not my study. But there's a headline that got our attention that says sex can kill you. Researchers elsewhere, in Massachusetts, to be specific, say that sudden bursts of moderate to intense physical activity like sex or jogging can increase - increase your chance of having a heart attack. That's why I don't jog. This goes for people who don't exercise or have sex regularly. So perhaps the bottom line here is either have sex more often or in the name of safety, do that or get in shape.
CHETRY: Yes. I mean, because they're saying - I don't know, it doesn't seem new. You know, when you shovel snow after a big - and they haven't done a lot of exercise, the increase in heart attacks during that time.
VELSHI: I think what's new is they just put sex into the - into the mix.
CHETRY: How many times are you going to say this before 6:00? The kids are eating their fruity pebbles.
VELSHI: I got Tweets and beeps have asking - OK, I'm not going to talk about this anymore.
CHETRY: Thank you.
ROMANS: We'll have you talk about it next hour if you like to hear Ali's - Ali's (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: Yes. We'll do it (INAUDIBLE).
ROMANS: All right. Two dramatic developments in Japan's nuclear crisis to get you back on the top news this morning. Black smoke now rising from a crippled reactor at the Daiichi Plant and radioactive contamination is in Tokyo's tap water.
Up next, we're going to find out what it all means when we're joined by the nuclear engineer who supervised the response to the Three Mile Island disaster.
CHETRY: Also, Will and Kate, that they'll ride in style. We have more royal weddings -
VELSHI: Come on.
CHETRY: What? Are we only getting details about their cars?
VELSHI: They gave us one detail a day.
CHETRY: The vehicle - Exactly. That's all you get. One detail a day.
ROMANS: And it's all going (ph).
VELSHI: Twenty-five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome.
VELSHI: Look at that. CHETRY: Pretty shot this morning, isn't it? It is the Capitol and some pretty lights in the background there this morning. It's 46 degrees at 6:29 this morning. A little bit later, though, not so pleasant. It's going to be 59, but they're expecting some thunderstorms.
ROMANS: I thought you meant when everyone wakes up in Washington.
CHETRY: Yes. it's always stormy. If you - if you're talking about that. But yes, the weather too.
VELSHI: Good morning to all of you. Let me get you caught up on some of your top stories right now.
Black smoke is rising from Reactor Number Three at the Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan. I know this sounds like you've heard it before. This is new black smoke and officials are not sure what's causing it.
Meanwhile, Tokyo's tap water 150 miles away is contaminated. Radioactive iodine levels are double the legal limit for infants. So residents are being warned not to let babies drink it.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned imported milk products, fruit, and vegetables from four prefectures that are closest to the crippled plant.
Heavy anti-aircraft fire and loud explosions in Tripoli overnight. Another night of heavy bombing by the coalition as President Obama plays defense for his decision to join the fight. In an interview with CNN Espanol's Juan Carlos Lopez, he even noted the irony of being a Nobel Peace Prize winner and ordering air strikes, but he says the mission is justified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We have a limited task, a focused task, and we've saved lives as a consequence. And, you know, I think the American people don't see any contradiction in somebody who cares about peace, also wanting to make sure that people aren't butchered because of a dictator who wants to cling to power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And happy birthday, health care. One year ago today, President Obama signed the federal health care bill into law. Republicans are still trying to repeal it. And Americans, it appears remain skeptical. A just released CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows that 59 percent have an unfavorable opinion of the new health care law, with 37 percent in favor of it.
ROMANS: Two major developments in Japan. Black smoke rising from reactor three at the Daiichi power station and dangerous levels of radioactive iodine in the tap water in Tokyo.
Lake Barrett is a nuclear engineer who supervised the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's response to the Three Mile Island accident.
Welcome to the program here.
What do we make by this black smoke and this reactor? I mean, we've seen gray smoke in others. We know, we've seen the pictures of these reactors. They look crippled. They looked crushed in some cases.
What could this signify -- this new black smoke?
LAKE BARRETT, NUCLEAR ENGINEER: This is part of the initial accident recovery process that is going on there now. The operators are working very hard to establish better control over the reactors and the buildings that have been badly damaged around them. So, these sort of burps and little things like this are going to be happening probably for days ahead. So, they're working hard to reestablish better cooling and better control over the situation.
VELSHI: OK. Lake, though, we keep on hearing that, you know, there's black smoke, then there's white smoke, then the core temperature is higher and there's radiation 150 miles away. And yet, we keep on hearing from regulators that nothing's wrong, no one's been killed, no one's died and most of those rescuers who were exposed to many thousands of times the normal intake of radiation are going to be fine.
At what point do we say this really is a big problem and we need to think our nuclear safety in the United States, as well?
BARRETT: Well, all the information is not inconsistent when you're in the initial fog of an accident, sort of like a fog of war. There's thousands and thousands of pieces of information. And those are all pieces, but they're not woven together into a complete story yet. So, the operators at TEPCO are working to better establish conditions and control it.
As far as this -- it is an industrial catastrophe. It's a huge plant, and it's been basically destroyed internally and has high contamination levels inside. There are areas in the building where no human is going to go for quite some time. But then, again, it's also not a health catastrophe as long as the people follow the instructions from the government, they're going to be safe in Japan.
CHETRY: How long, you know, do you estimate? Because I know you were at Three Mile Island and supervised the cleanup efforts there -- how long do they get to attempt to restore power, attempt to, you know, go the normal route with the cooling, before they have to possibly consider something more drastic like what they did in Chernobyl, which is basically to put cement sarcophagus over the entire thing?
BARRETT: Well, I don't think we're anything like the Chernobyl situation here at all. A lot of that is emotional talk that goes on a lot of times in the press. First, the operators have got to improve the cooling. They have to establish electricity in the buildings.
They're working very hard to do that. It's very hard laboring inside the radiation protection suits and respirators. But they're doing that and they're making progress on getting better control inside the plant.
But it's going to be a long time and this initial case is going to go on for many days and probably weeks. And then they're going to improve on radioactive materials, so to prevent any more contamination in the area.
ROMANS: This is, as you say a multi-decade cleanup, essentially. We're just trying to get control of the situation now to talk about dissecting what went wrong, analyzing what needs to be fixed, and even start doing that. I mean, how long is this process?
BARRETT: Well, there's many phases to it. I hope the next few weeks will be ending the first phase, which is establishing better control over the site. Then, you're going to do better things to mitigate the radioactive materials there and then we're going to do lessons learned. The lessons learned have started here in the United States, as well in Japan, to make nuclear power safer than what it is.
Obviously, improvements need to be made. In the case of Three Mile Island, this was a real wake-up call to the nuclear industry in the United States and it made nuclear power safer and more competitive in the United States. And I think we're going to learn from this, as well.
CHETRY: All right. Lake Barrett, nuclear engineer and the site director at the Three Mile Island cleanup -- thanks so much for your input this morning.
I just want to quickly put up a graphic because we had talked about this, as well, about how Japan compares with other countries when it comes to how much nuclear generated electricity they have. When you look at France up there, 75 percent. Japan's 30 percent -- we're not far behind at 20 percent, and Canada at 15 percent.
VELSHI: Now, in Japan, there are 30, but Christine and I were looking into this this morning, this Fukushima Daiichi plant, with six reactors, is about 18 percent of that 30 percent. So, it's about 5 percent or 6 percent of all of Japan's electricity.
ROMANS: Ten percent of their electricity is offline right now simply because of the effects of the earthquake and tsunami. And also a country that is a big net importer of energy needs. So, Japan has an energy problem right now, they have to figure out how to solve.
CHETRY: And this as we ask those questions about how long they're going to continue to try to repair and rebuild at this plant, or do they have to call it a day?
VELSHI: But even if they do, they've got to replace it with something because that is 5 percent or 6 percent of their electricity in that country. It's a big, big topic.
Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING: Egypt's interview minister was set on fire, linked to recent protests? We'll have details on that ahead.
ROMANS: Also coming up, Will and Kate, they take another page from Princess Diana's royal playbook. Oh, the royal wedding. We can't wait for every daily detail.
VELSHI: Thirty-five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirty-eight minutes past the hour right now.
The turmoil that sparked the military action we're seeing in Libya is part of an escalating wave of unrest that's erupted across the Middle East and North Africa.
Let's take a look.
In Syria, a seventh day of anti-government protests continues. Human rights groups saying that Syrian authorities opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators, killing six people. The reported attack comes just a day after a prominent rights leader was taken from his home and arrested. Organizers are planning a day of mass protests in Syria Friday.
In Egypt now, a fire at the Interior Ministry in Cairo. A police officer at the scene said that it began in a documents storage area, and then later spread to a criminal evidence building. The building was the site of a protest earlier in the day. But demonstrators deny setting the fire. Officials are now looking into whether it was an electrical circuit that malfunctioned.
And the U.S. State Department advising Americans not to travel to Bahrain. It's also urging U.S. citizens currently in the country to consider leaving as soon as they can.
In Bahrain, political demonstrations have often turned to violent clashes between police and protesters. And there are reports this morning that Bahrain's military is shortening the curfew in parts of the capital of Manama.
VELSHI: Going west: more royal wedding details this morning. We know how Will and Kate will get from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace next month.
Zain Verjee live in London with more.
It seems, Zain, that we get one little kernel of information every day to keep this discussion.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do, Ali. What comes after love and marriage? It's not alimony, I hope. But it's actually the horse and carriage.
VELSHI: Yes. I knew that.
VERJEE: Look at this piece of video, OK? This is the carriage that Kate and Will will be sitting in when they leave Westminster Abbey. It was this very same one that Princess Diana and Charles, Fergie used it, as well. You can see it's gold and crimson satin. Over at Buckingham Palace, they're fixing the big red wheels just to make sure that they don't fall off. And Kate's also been practicing getting on it. I mean, it's actually pretty hard. She's going to have this big dress and a long train and so, she's got to be careful.
And the thing is too with these carriages -- apparently, you can get motion sickness. So, she's also been practicing riding them because when you're in it, the carriage kind of swings back and forth. And she doesn't want to be sick, right? Obviously.
So, there's a lot of carriage rehearsals going on. But that, guys, will be it.
CHETRY: I didn't know that was something you could practice. You either get motion sickness or you don't. I mean --
VELSHI: If I were going to be the princess, I would say, how about you get me to the wedding in something that's not going to make me sick.
VERJEE: Yes, exactly.
CHETRY: Also, everyone's going to make a buck, of course, off this wedding, Zain, right? Although wedding memorabilia -- I saw the Kate doll already with the dress she was photographed for her engagement in. And it was a cute little doll.
VERJEE: Yes. It was. There's a lot of cuter and wackier memorabilia actually guys. I just pull out a list. Take a look at some of the stuff that you can get if you are coming to jolly old England. You can get an official royal wedding coin, OK? And it apparently shows the lovers in a profile gazing lovingly at one another. And it has William with a little more hair than he actually has.
You can also get the crowned jewels condoms, guys, where you can lie back and think of England. That's their slogan, not mine.
"Kiss me Kate" beer. OK? There's one brewery making that.
The Germans have come up with this tea bag called Kate and William. And their slogan is "It all started with a cup of tea."
And, lastly, I found that you can get these imitation dresses kind of, like the engagement dress, because when Kate wore it in the engagement photo, you know, the blue dress and everything, there were all of these knockoffs that were made constantly, and they called it the dress that launched a thousand knockoffs. And they're hoping they can do more with just what she's wearing and get it for cheap.
VELSHI: The other day you showed us the wave they're going to be using. It's not the sort of traditional royal wave, right? They're actually going to be waving more like normal people?
VERJEE: Yes, they call it the wind screen wiper wave.
VELSHI: Wind screen wiper wave, right. VERJEE: It's this. A flat, open-handed wave that shows they're open with one another, as well. Not the royal wave. Guys, this is just for the queen.
CHETRY: I thought that was for the beauty pageants also.
VELSHI: Elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, elbow, elbow --
CHETRY: Elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, wrist, OK-- sorry about that, Zain. Thanks so much --
VERJEE: Thanks, guys.
CHETRY: -- for all of that wonderful information.
ROMANS: You can watch Zain every morning at 5:00 a.m. on "WORLD ONE" right here on CNN.
Also, AMERICAN MORNING is going to have complete coverage of the royal wedding if you cannot bear to miss any breaking detail. We will have it. And Kiran will be right there in jolly old England.
CHETRY: Looking forward to it. It's going to be fun.
Also, still to come, they are surfing the waves in Minnesota. You have that right. It's been crazy out there. This winter storm is making its way east. It certainly doesn't feel like what we think of spring. Jacqui Jeras is going to be along with the morning forecast after the break.
VELSHI: Also coming up, how one man's rage at a fast food restaurant spiraled dangerously out of control.
Forty-three minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This isn't your typical computer lab. This is MIT's tangible media group where they're envisioning the future of computer use by thinking outside the cubical.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're imagining a world where we're not limited by just the keyboard and the screen.
WOLF: You've probably seen the group's work in the movie "Minority Report."
(MOVIE CLIP)
WOLF: But that's just one of the many projects the group is working on that combines real movements with virtual information. You can find students with 3D pens that seemingly reach into the screen and interactive models that could help people like architects create design.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think using real materials allows you to be more creative.
WOLF: Even the games we play are getting more interactive. It's ideas like this the group hopes will change the way we work, think, and live.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you combine the different things that we're doing here and apply it to all the different surfaces that's available in your home and your office and your building, you suddenly have a whole environment that you can interact with.
WOLF: Technology with a human touch that could bring big changes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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VELSHI: We've got some breaking news for you that we want to bring to you from Florida right now. Crash involving two trucks on the Florida turnpike. Courtesy these pictures of WPBF. A crash around Palm Beach Gardens has closed all lanes of the Florida turnpike northbound and southbound. Florida highway patrol says two tractor-trailers crashed.
One of the trucks caught fire. This happened two hours ago. What we know right now is that one person was flown to a trauma center by helicopter. Traffic is being diverted. So, if you are driving on the Florida turnpike this morning, they're diverting it about two exits in each direction. So, make sure you check that out before you head out to work. We'll stay on top of this for you.
CHETRY: They're still trying to put out the fire. You see the water there. What a mess just in time for the rush hour.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: It's 48 minutes past the hour right now on the East Coast. Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. Jacqui Jeras is in the Extreme Weather Center for us. Good morning, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys. It could be a rough commute for a whole lot of people today as we've got a lot of wintery weather and wet weather impacting that will be impacting that drive in. We've start now with the snow here, and we're seeing that across the twin cities, across the Great Lakes, and yes, even into the northeast.
New York City, you're getting a little bit of that snow, but not accumulating, and this is a changeover to some rain. We think, say, 9 o'clock-ish or so. Just rain for you in Philly as well as Baltimore, and we'll expect some showers in Washington, D.C. today, as well, and we're going to have a lot of travel trouble at the airports as a result of these storms, too. New York City metro, because of the rain, the snow, and the wind over an hour, we think, later today and Newark, it should get in on that action, as well.
Philadelphia maybe 30 to 60 minutes and D.C. about 15 to 30. Thunderstorms could be the problem for you in Chicago and then real windy conditions there, and even a little freezing rain into Detroit. San Francisco and Los Angeles, our West Coast getting some more storms now, and so, we're expecting delays, probably along the range of 30 to 60 minutes there. Let's talk a little bit about what's been going on in the West Coast.
You had really brutal conditions over the weekend. Now, this latest storm that's moving in, not quite as bad as that one, but already bringing in rain and several feet of snow expected in the sierras. And look at these storms lined up out of the pacific. So, this one comes in today. This one should be arriving late Thursday, and then this one as we head towards the weekend.
So, really unrelenting and no big breaks. Take a look at some of the video that we have for you. This is from one of our iReporters from Julie Ellerton (ph), and this is from the bridge in (INAUDIBLE), she says, which is in Malibu, California, and she shot this video on Monday, and all that debris got clogged up on the bridge. They had to go ahead and close it down before they could open this thing back up. And unfortunately, we can see more pictures like this one as we head into the next couple of days.
And we'll also be watching those burn areas for any debris flows or any mudslides which could take place because we're talking about another half of an inch to an inch of rain. Trying to end things with a glass half full, guys, and that's the southern plains and the southeast really looking at some decent weather today where temperatures continue to be on the mild side, but that front's going to move through. Change things as we approach the end of the week.
CHETRY: We'd like to take a walk on the mild side up here, it's been terrible.
ROMANS: Thanks, Jacqui.
CHETRY: Thanks, Jacqui.
The morning's top stories just couple of minutes away, including a CNN exclusive. We got exclusive access inside an Indian Point Nuclear Facility at the New York. It's been voted as one of the most vulnerable, in large part, because it's just 35 minutes from the biggest city in the country. If something were to go wrong, how do you get 18 million people away? We're going to talk about that, coming up.
VELSHI: And attention online shoppers, we'll tell you why your tax- free shopping days on the internet may be over.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Check this one out. This is -- I never understand. I know people like their fast food, but just getting crazy about it is a whole different story. One man's tantrum at a Taco Bell apparently led to a shooting in Texas. Police in San Antonio say that he shot a BB gun at the manager after -- I don't even know if I believe this -- after finding out that the price of the seven beefy crunch burritos he'd ordered went up 50 cents each. He had to be mad about something else.
VELSHI: Yes. I don't think that's going to be the thing.
CHETRY: Other issues.
ROMANS: I think you're walking in a place like that already have cops.
CHETRY: I guess, he did, because they pointed a gun at police before taking off. Three hours later, he was arrested, and now, he's being charged with three counts of attempted capital murder.
VELSHI: Total price increase on the burritos, by the way, was $3.50 plus tax. That's what he started shooting over. Wow.
All right. Sometimes, the sweet smell of success really stinks. Check this out. Nine-year-old Sterling Brinkerhof from Utah won the Annual Rotten Sneaker contest held each year in Vermont. This is really gross. His one white low-cut sneakers were voted worst of the worst. Do people have parents? How do you enter a contest like that?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STERLING BRINKERHOF, CONTEST WINNER: My shoes have gotten this dirty from playing in the irrigation ditch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what is in there?
BRINKERHOF: Fish, insects, frogs --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got that very putrid smell and then you've got that gets in your nose and gets hangs and burns and, you know, brings -- makes your eyes water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: But there's just so much to the story. First of all, the guy we just heard from is a NASA space briefing guy. And the little kid said he had insects and frogs in his shoes. The winner gets $2,500, plus an all-expense paid trip to New York City to see Mary Poppins. I'd like to know --
CHETRY: Come on the show, too. If you're going to be in New York, come on the show.
VELSHI: So, I can avoid being there. He gets a lifetime supply of odor eaters because that is the event sponsor. His sneakers will be enshrined in the "Hall of Fumes." I'd say for all (ph) readers, this is a brilliant campaign.
ROMANS: Absolutely.
CHETRY: This happened to me once. We went to an amusement park, and the first thing I did was ride the water ride, and then, I walked around my sneakers the whole day, and then, at the end, we went to go see one of those shows. I think Chris goes, it just smells really bad around here.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: And we were dating at the time. It was my sneakers. I had to run only back in the car trying to keep them away from him.
VELSHI: You just keep the sneakers on the other side?
CHETRY: Oh, that's embarrassing.
ROMANS: All right, guys. Top stories coming your way right after this break.
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