Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Airstrikes Continue in Libya; Tokyo Tap Water Warning; FDA Bans Some Imports from Japan; Inside Indian Point; MBA Home Run King Barry Bonds on Trial

Aired March 23, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. The disaster in Japan takes a troubling turn as the tap water in Tokyo is contaminated. The FDA in the United State says many foods produced near the crippled Daiichi power plant are now banned on this AMERICAN MORNING.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. It's Wednesday, March 23rd. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING today.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: We have a lot to tell you about this morning. A CNN exclusive.

It's been voted one of the most vulnerable nuclear plants in the United States. It's Indian Point Nuclear Plant in New York. And today, we've been granted exclusive access for a look inside.

VELSHI: Also ahead this hour, the four "New York Times" reporters tell their story of being held captive. It is an unbelievable account. We'll have it for you this hour.

ROMANS: And at the bottom of the hour, if you buy clothes, electronics, gadgets, whatever on the internet, the days of not paying sales tax could soon be over. We'll tell you why.

CHETRY: Up first, though, another night of heavy bombing by the coalition in Libya. Heavy anti-aircraft fire and loud explosions were heard in Tripoli overnight. As of last night, the U.S. and allies have flown more than 300 missions over Libya, firing 162 cruise missiles.

A CNN crew got an inside look at a warehouse in a Tripoli port, which was the target of precision coalition airstrikes. You could see craters and holes in the walls of that facility. Mobile rocket launchers also sought out and destroyed.

All of this happening as President Obama is on the defense among some camps for his decision to join this fight. He sat down with CNN's Juan Carlos Lopez who joins me now from El Salvador. A unique opportunity to talk to the president about this. He is in South America while this is taking place in Libya. What did he tell you about it?

JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we spoke about the future, about the limitation the coalition has with resolution 1973. But the question is, can Gadhafi stay in power? Can Gadhafi simply observe this no-fly zone and hunker down? What is the future of this? This is what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOPEZ: Where does the mission stand now? What happens now? Can he stay in Tripoli if he doesn't break this no-fly zone? Is that the future of this?

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, we have been successful so far in accomplishing the very specific objectives of the mission under the U.N. charter, which was to establish a no-fly zone, to make sure that we provided humanitarian protection at a time where that was urgently needed.

You are absolutely right that, you know, Gadhafi may try to hunker down and wait it out even in the face of a no-fly zone even though his forces have been degraded. But keep in mind that we don't just have military tools at our disposal in terms of accomplishing Gadhafi's leaving. You know, we put in place strong international sanctions. We've frozen his assets. We will continue to apply a whole range of pressure on him.

But with respect to the military action, that specifically is done under the U.N. Security Council resolution and calls for maintaining the no-fly zone and ensuring the people of Libya aren't assaulted by their own military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOPEZ: I also asked him could he or would he support the rebels militarily. He said it's one of the options they're studying. It will depend on what happens from now on. They're hopeful Libyans will maybe overcome the fear after recent attacks by pro Gadhafi forces.

CHETRY: Well, it's great you had a chance to sit down with him. Thanks so much.

Meantime, all the uncertainty about the mission is affecting you financially. Oil prices topping $105 a barrel again this morning. The recent violence in places like Libya also unrest in Yemen and Syria all a factor in the rise of oil prices. A region that produces almost a third of the country's oil, Iraq's oil minister warned prices could top $120 per barrel.

Right now at the pump, prices remained relatively flat averaging still $3.55 a gallon for regular. But many people are already paying record prices for this time of year.

VELSHI: All right, let's get back to Japan now, troubling new development in the tap water in Tokyo. It is contaminated with radioactive iodine. The levels, twice the legal limit for infants to drink. And we have a sober update from the deadly earthquake and tsunami. More than 9,400 people are dead, close to 15,000 remain missing.

Anna Coren joins live from Tokyo. Anna, until now, you've been feeling these aftershocks. I know there was one not too long ago. Tokyo has felt a safe distance away, now finding out there iodine, radioactive iodine in Tokyo. Tell us about how it's going over.

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is the big story here today, Ali. The contamination scare is spreading. We are some 150 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. And late this afternoon, officials came out saying that those higher levels of iodine were found in the drinking water.

Now, this is of great alarm to parents because officials are saying do not give this water to young children. You know, specifically infants being babies under the age of one. The reason being, they absorb radiation a lot more than what adults do. So officials saying do not give your babies water, specifically water that they use to mix up the baby formula.

Obviously this is a run on buying bottled water at shops. Officials are sort of telling people to calm down, that they will have adequate supplies in the coming days. Ali?

VELSHI: This part gets a little bit confusing. We never really know where one series of smoke or fire at the reactor ends and another one starts. So we have a new report of smoke. I understand it's black smoke coming out of reactor number three. How do we make sense of that?

COREN: Yes, I know. This is a problem, Ali. I think when we spoke yesterday, it was barely visible. That's what authorities were telling us. And late this afternoon, sure enough, that black smoke began billowing from reactor three.

This, of course, has been the problem reactor for officials that had the explosion, the fire, the buildup of pressure. And of course the smoke over the last couple of days. Officials say something is burning, they don't know what it is. They did evacuate the plant. They don't know if it's just from around the reactor or the entire plant, but 554 workers have been there the entire time.

VELSHI: Anna Coren, we'll stay on top of it with you.

Here in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has banned certain foods from entering the United States. Four prefectures closest to the Daiichi plant are impacted. The ban covers milk, milk products, fresh vegetables and fruit. Other food products will be diverted for testing before they can be exported to the United States.

Japan's prime minister has ordered the governors of those areas to immediately halt distribution of spinach, and some of the milk from the region has radioactive iodine levels at 17 times above the legal limit. In less than ten minutes we'll examine the dangers of Japan's food supply and water when we're joined by our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

ROMANS: More evidence this morning of a dramatic decline in what was once one of America's largest cities. Census figures show Detroit lost 25 percent of its population in a single decade from 2000 to 2010. That is the largest percentage drop for any American city in history outside of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. A thriving auto industry helped Detroit become America's fourth largest city. At one point this was a vibrant American town. In 1950, there were more than 1.8 million people living in Detroit, last year just 714,000. You guys, that's the lowest since 1910, population the lowest in 100 years.

VELSHI: It was the heart of that -- you know, the backbone of America's middle class that worked on factory floors.

CHETRY: And now you're seeing a max exodus to southern and eastern parts. The census is really changing from just a decade. It's amazing.

ROMANS: Thunderstorms, golf ball-sized hail, tornadoes, part of a fast-moving system from Nebraska to Iowa. Take a look at this funnel cloud caught on home video near Des Moines. There were over two dozen tornado warnings in Iowa alone yesterday. Homes and farms damaged.

In Wisconsin, roads wet, slushy, and slick. Tow truck drivers kept busy near green bay with spinouts and minor accidents on the highways in Wisconsin. Drivers were forced to take it extra slow on the commute home.

CHETRY: It's been a rough spring.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROMANS: This is a story that got our attention, as well. People around it said it was scary. Singer Chris Brown reportedly going on a rampage after an interview on "Good Morning, America" yesterday. Co- anchor Robin Roberts asked him about his domestic abuse incident with his ex-girlfriend Rihanna.

After it was over TMZ says he smashed a window in his dressing room with a chair and stripped of his shirt and stormed out. ABC says hair and make-up staff had to call security because they heard loud noises coming from Brown's dressing room. ABC also says, of course, they asked tough questions and significant part of his past, of course, is his situation with Rihanna. They asked him as it is their journalistic duty to do.

CHETRY: And they apparently said they had said ahead of time, sorry, this is going to come up.

ROMANS: He handled it fine in the interview. He said I'm focusing on my album. In the interview, he did not seem angry. But there was a broken window in his room, his dressing room afterward.

VELSHI: Still to come on "American Morning," the days of not paying sales tax when you shop online could be numbered.

CHETRY: A lot of people are questioning the safety of America's nuclear plants. One sits near New York on a fault line. Allan Chernoff got exclusive access inside Indian Point.

ROMANS: And dangerous levels of radiation found in Tokyo's tap water. We'll talk to Dr. Sanjay Gupta about that and growing concern here in the U.S. about contaminated food coming from Japan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Coalition airstrikes in Libya continue for a fifth day. Loud explosions were heard in Tripoli overnight. Moammar Gadhafi, though, remains defiant. He says no retreat, and he claims he's winning the fight. President Obama says the U.S. is ready to hand over control to the mission to international forces.

Joining us now is Fouad Ajami. He's professor of Middle Eastern studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Professor, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.

FOUAD AJAMI, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Thank you very much.

VELSHI: Give us a sense of how experts like you are watching this unfold. What happens next? This is always the problem. We get involved in something and there's never a full sense of what the end game is.

AJAMI: Well, experts like me, first of all, don't make any predictions.

VELSHI: Right.

AJAMI: This is the key to all this. This has been the most surprising of time in the Arab world. So, from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya, et cetera, anyone who pretended he knew the story and mastered the story was really in many -- in my opinion, a pretender. So, we just follow the news.

ROMANS: Ad the news in Libya. Let's start there because each country has its own different set of circumstances that feed into the same story from an American perspective. But in Libya, what happens there next? The U.S. has established the no-fly zone. What is the next -- who has the next move?

AJAMI: Well, I think in Libya, we have to understand one thing. This is not the mission that President Obama wanted. He wanted to stay away from it. This was not an engagement he was keen to undertake.

And I actually have a piece today in the "Wall Street Journal" that says this was -- there was a Holbrook moment. Someone walked in and told the president of the United States that this man Moammar Gadhafi is going all the way to Benghazi and he's going to do a massacre in Benghazi.

CHETRY: Right.

AJAMI: And to avoid that, in fact, we were pulled into this. And as you can see, you know, President Obama is keen to give it to Sarkozy, keen to give it David Cameron, keen to give it to NATO, he just doesn't want it.

CHETRY: And just a little history, it's a great article that you wrote, a great op-ed, you're referring to Richard Holbrook dragging then-President Clinton to Bosnia.

AJAMI: Absolutely.

CHETRY: And you sort of talk about that type of decision, that moral decision the United States makes and in some cases didn't make. You talk about Srebrenica, where they didn't make that decision. But in Libya, I found your article interesting because you said that -- that some in the Arab world said, OK, President Obama is clearly no friend of liberty if he's not going to help.

And, at the same time, we were told for years that the source of anti- American sentiment was because George Bush looked like an imperialist that was going in there trying to force democracy on people who didn't necessarily know it or want it.

AJAMI: You're so right. I need you in my seminar.

(LAUGHTER)

AJAMI: That's basically the issue here, damn if you do, damn if you don't. And for the United States, in the Arab world, in the Islamic world, we're either imperialists imposing our way or we are abdicationists leading people to kill one another. And I think that's the dilemma that President Obama faced. And there was no easy exit out of it. He would have preferred to stay out of it.

But with this man announcing, Gadhafi saying, in fact, he's going to go house-to-house and kill people, find them in their closet, the president of the United States has no choice but to intervene.

CHETRY: Unless the Arab league said no.

AJAMI: Well, the Arab League, this was -- and I think that's another issue. Now, did President Obama expect the Arab League to give him a green light? Well, we don't know.

Did the Arab League give a green light? Well, maybe it was a yellow light, it was a flickering light. They couldn't really decide.

VELSHI: They just needed any light.

AJAMI: Absolutely. The Arabs are second guessers. They would have second-guessed this anyway. This is an American rescue mission with Britain and France. And if you want -- if the Qataris want to be part of this mission, fine. If they want to send fighter jets, fine. But mostly, the Arab world is really spectator to this great tragedy.

ROMANS: Until now, we've stayed out of all of this. We watched Egypt on the sidelines. Really criticized for that, as you point out.

Does the U.S. get involved elsewhere? Or is it just Libya?

AJAMI: Well, I think we can't say. Every setting is its own setting, if you will.

ROMANS: Right.

AJAMI: What about Bahrain? We are there, we have a military -- we have naval bases. We have -- our fleet is there. And what if the confrontation between the -- between the ruling dynasty in Bahrain and the people of Bahrain, what if that gets bloody? Will we be drawn into it? We don't know.

VELSHI: As Christine likes to point out, the inherent inconsistency of U.S. policy in the Middle East continues.

AJAMI: Right.

VELSHI: All right. Professor Ajami, good to see you.

AJAMI: Thank you.

CHETRY: Great to talk to you.

VELSHI: Four "New York Times" journalists who were detained in Libya for nearly a week are now writing about their ordeal. We all found this fascinating when we read it. Reporter Anthony Shadid wrote a joint piece for the paper, along with photographers Lynsey Addario, Tyler Hicks and videographer Stephen Farrell. Excerpts reveal what happened after their capture by pro-Gadhafi forces.

ROMANS: They write, "Within half hour, we were in a military command, in the hands of military intelligence. We collapsed on the floor, accepting milk and mango juice. We saw our bags unloaded, thought we would never get them back."

The article goes on. "Tyler's hands were bound by a strip of a scarf. A soldier took off Lynsey's gray Nike shoes and bound her with her shoe laces. 'God, I just don't want to be raped,' she whispered to Steve."

The four were released with the help of Turkey's ambassador to Libya. The entire piece is at "The New York Times."

VELSHI: It's really worth the read. It's remarkable. These four, a number of them had been captured and held before. They're not new to this. But they seemed very scared.

They also go on to talk about little courtesies that they experienced along the way.

ROMANS: Along with head butts, beatings and some pretty violent behavior.

VELSHI: It's an interesting read.

ROMANS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING this morning: one cell phone carrier's brand new feature is meant to prevent texting while driving. The question is: Will users sign up for it?

VELSHI: I should sign up for it.

CHETRY: It's a big promise.

Also coming up, why AT&T customers better hope that the deal to buy T- Mobile goes through pretty quickly. We're going to tell you how their service could be impacted.

VELSHI: It's 20 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-four minutes past the hour right now. We have your A.M. house call for you this morning.

And some alarming news out of Japan, that Tokyo's tap water is now not considered safe for infants. And this is a concern because they mix it with baby formula to feed their babies.

The spread of radiation has led the FDA now also to bar imports of certain foods that are produced in areas crippled -- near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is live at the CNN Center for us this morning.

So, I found this interesting. First, they say don't -- the tap water is not to be consumed by babies. Second, they say -- but by the way, please don't make a run on bottled water.

I mean, what are people supposed to do in Japan?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, it's obviously kind of conflicting messages for the people who live there. We're talking about a very big center area here in Tokyo.

So, they're clearly going to need to get more supplies into that area. I think they're trying to keep people calm in the immediate aftermath of this.

But I think this is another example, Kiran, of what we've been talking about for some time in getting messages a little bit late. And as a result, some of the planning has not been done.

We've been hearing about the spikes, specifically of what's known as radioactive iodine, I-131 in the water, almost since this happened. I was reporting about this about a week ago. And now, they're going back and measuring this and saying, look, it is elevated, it has stayed elevated, and that number is twice the legal limit for infants.

The number, in case you're curious is 210 specific units. The legal limit for infants is 100. For adults, it's 300. So, it's still below that.

So, they're saying, for adults, they don't need to be making a run on bottled water. If infants are using water to, for example, make their baby food or mix up their baby food, they should not be using tap water. They have to use some other source.

But, obviously, Kiran, to your point, they're going to get more supplies of bottled water in this. And even if the levels come down, my guess is having been there and seeing the reaction of this, even if the levels come down, people are still going to want to drink bottled water for some time to come. The anxiety is not going to go away overnight.

ROMANS: Sanjay, when we talk about those potassium iodide pills, too, you know, they talk about how it's so important for children, teens. Children are more susceptible to radiation?

GUPTA: That's right. And specifically this type, this iodine -- the concern is your thyroid gland essentially uses the iodine to, you know, conduct its making of the hormones. In children, that gland is still developing. So, it takes up whatever iodine's available more readily. And if radioactive iodine's more readily available, that's what it's going to take up. That's the concern.

VELSHI: What does this mean for U.S. food? The FDA said from these four prefectures that are affected close to the plant, they're not importing food. But now we know that the water in Tokyo, which is 150 miles away is contaminated -- should there be any degree of concern on the part of the American consumers?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting, Ali, because you can almost draw the line against the way this has been handled. The first message we got was, look, don't worry about this, we've already screened food for radiation. That was the first message.

But then it came out, we don't screen all the food. And then they said, you know what, we're going to screen all the food that's coming from Japan for radiation. And by the way, it only makes up 4 percent of our imports anyway.

And now, we're hearing the message you're alluding to, which is we're going to ban the imports of many of these types of foods including milk, including a lot of produce, including some vegetables, and fruits in the foreseeable future.

So, it made up a small portion. That food should not be allowed to get into the United States. Now, even at these low radiation levels.

So, you know, there should not be a concern. That food is banned for the time being.

The big question, I think, Ali, and I think we're going to keep our eye on is how long does that ban continue? The half-life of radioactive iodine that's just sort of sitting around is about eight days. But if it gets into the soil, if it gets to ground water, if it starts to accumulate its activity over there, it can be decades before the activity of that -- those radioactive particles are gone.

So, how long is that food going to be considered contaminated? Will produce come out of the Fukushima region or other regions for some time to come?

VELSHI: OK. So, just quick add to, then -- if something is irradiated, if milk or spinach is irradiated, it has a half-life. I mean, at some point, it's going to be non-irradiated before it spoils?

GUPTA: Well, with spinach, if it's just particles are just sitting on the leaf, it's about eight days. If it gets into the stem and into the root supply, it can be much longer.

With milk, as you remember, Ali, it's a little bit different process. Grass, for example, becomes contaminated. Cows eat that and then the iodine is sort of concentrated in their milk. So, that process can take longer than eight days, but just the particles that are sitting around falling to the earth, getting on the leaves, about eight days for that.

ROMANS: OK. Sanjay Gupta -- thanks, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Thank you.

CHETRY: Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING: top stories, including -- you know the trick -- you find what you want at a store, and then you head home and you buy it online because sometimes you can avoid the sales tax. That loophole, though, may be closing. We'll have details coming up.

VELSHI: And a power plant near New York City cited as the most vulnerable nuclear power plant in the America. An explosive inside Indian Point -- straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: 31 minutes past the hour right now. Your top stories. Japan's government is telling people living near the Fukushima nuclear reactor not to give tap water to infants because of radioactive iodine levels in the water. Twice the legal limit for infants to drink. And if I understand, this is also spreading out to Tokyo.

VELSHI: The water in Tokyo's contaminated now.

CHETRY: Right. So again, just beyond that initial 20-mile radius, but all the way 100 plus miles to Tokyo. Also today, more evacuations at the plant after black smoke was spotted rising from reactor three.

Meantime, President Obama says he has no doubt that the U.S. can transition to more of a background role over the coming days in Libya. The president telling CNN that he hopes the no-fly zone gives the rebels there a chance to start talking about how to organize themselves and create a legitimate government for Libya.

And oil prices on the rise now up to just under $105 a barrel. Traders are nervous as the violence in Libya threatens to affect long- term oil production there. Oil has surged 20 percent since the middle of last month.

VELSHI: I do - I would say the vast majority of my shopping online other than things like groceries and things like that.

CHETRY: Right. VELSHI: One of the biggest perks of shopping online is often that you don't pay sales tax. I don't want to really emphasize this too much, in case anybody from the IRS is watching, but some of this could change. Carmen Wong-Ulrich is "Minding your Business" for us. What's in the cards?

CARMEN WONG-ULRICH, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, I got you beat. I also shop for groceries online. Absolutely everything online. You know, states have been in big financial trouble. Billions of dollars in deficits.

CHETRY: Right.

WONG-ULRICH: So Where are they looking? Taxing your on-line purchases. The sales tax saga continues with several states, most recently California, looking to recoup what they say are millions in lost income due to on-line retailers such as Amazon and Overstock not charging local sales tax.

Now, how can they do this? Well, a 1992 Supreme Court ruling prohibits a state from forcing the collection of sales tax unless it has a physical presence in that area. So, for example, Target has a presence in your state, you pay taxes on-line with your on-line purchases. Amazon, no presence in your state, no sales tax. Amazon actually only charges sales tax in five states.

Now had it not charging sales tax - this is a huge advantage for on- line shoppers because in effect, it's a discount. In Los Angeles, for example, we go and buy a pair of shoes in a brick and mortar store, we're going to pay almost 10 percent in sales tax. And you can find the same pair of shoes on an on-line retailer like Zappos.com. No sales tax collected. So in effect you're saving about 10 percent.

Now, in New York state, you're going to pay over eight percent in sales tax in a store, in a brick and mortar, but you also are going to pay the same sales tax on-line through Amazon. So it's the other states where you get the discount. Now but another part of the Supreme Court ruling, states that we on our own as taxpayers are supposed to pay the tax ourselves, Ali Velshi.

VELSHI: Yes.

WONG ULRICH: The state of California reporting that local shoppers now owe $795 million in taxes, but only 10 million has actually been paid.

CHETRY: How do they go about collecting that?

VELSHI: Well, you're supposed -

WONG ULRICH: Well, they were trying to find out through electronic footprints. Now mind you, everything we do on-line is tracked so they could do it that way. But they fell back, they pulled back on that last week. Of course, it was a big uproar on that. To be continued. A big saga. VELSHI: I know what I do is I do an estimate, that's what my accountant tells me to do. You estimate how much the bottom line is and what those taxes are but I don't know how that's entirely calculated.

WONG ULRICH: Well, again, listen 10 million out of almost $800 million is a tiny, tiny bit. We're going to see how this fans out. Because in Texas, Amazon actually closed down a warehouse because Texas was threatening to go after them for the sales tax.

All right. We've got a quick morning market check for you here. The DOW down almost 18 points at the close yesterday, NASDAQ down eight, and the S&P down nearly five points.

CHETRY: I wonder what happens with the oil up at $105 a barrel right now. If that affects Wall Street today.

WONG ULRICH: We'll see how it affects it today. Futures looking so, so.

CHETRY: All right. Carmen. Great to see you.

WONG ULRICH: Thank you.

ROMANS: All right. Guys, the nuclear crisis at the Daiichi power station in Japan has regulators scrambling to start safety checks here in the United States. "The Daily Beast" has identified three of the most vulnerable nuclear power plants in America based on safety records, risk of natural disaster, and surrounding population.

Number three, the Limerick Pennsylvania power plant. It's 21 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The second most vulnerable is the San Onofre Nuclear Plant. That's 45 miles southeast of Long Beach, California and topping the list, the Indian Point Power Plant here. As you know, this is part of a very, very populated part of the country. It sits on a fault line just 25 miles north of New York City. Over 17 million people live within 50 miles of this facility.

The governor of New York admits, if there was a disaster there, it would be impossible to evacuate the area. Still, an overwhelming majority of people still think they believe in nuclear power, frankly. The latest CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll reveals 28 percent of people think that nuclear power is very safe, 51 percent think it's somewhat safe, 20 percent think it's not safe.

Here's the story, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is promising to make Indian Point its top priority as it prepares to make safety more key here at two dozen power plants. A CNN exclusive right now. Our Allan Chernoff had exclusive access inside Indian Point. What can you tell us about the safety of this facility and how they're reacting to what's happening in Japan. Good morning, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. They're taking security safety very, very seriously. Walking into this plant, wow, like walking on to a movie set. After layers and layers of security, we stepped right there into the core. That is the dome of unit number three. And right now, workers as you can see are busy replacing the actual nuclear fuel. They do that only twice - only every two years. So it's really a pretty rare occurrence.

And I spoke to the plant director right there under the dome. He told me this plant is ready to handle the biggest quake mother nature should deliver here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (on camera): Do you believe that this structure can withstand as much of a punch as mother nature's going to deliver?

JOE POLLOCK, VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS INDIAN POINT: We believe this structure is designed to withstand as much as (INAUDIBLE) is expected to happen in this area.

That's correct.

CHERNOFF: What about unexpected?

POLLOCK: Well, unexpected, you know, we believe it's greater than six it can handle, we believe we could handle a seven earthquake.

CHERNOFF: You think you could handle a seven here?

POLLOCK: Yes, I do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: Well, the worst that they have handled back in 1880 way before this plant was built was actually a 5.3. So Christine, they think they're well prepared for a quake. Of course, they did in Japan, as well.

ROMANS: Well, quake, what other kinds of things are they prepared for?

CHERNOFF: That's a good question because far more likely in this area is a horrific hurricane. This plant is right along the Hudson River. So they do plan for the possibility of flooding. The most vulnerable equipment is 15 feet above the level of sea water. OK. Now, what's the key issue here? It's all about power for the plant. The plant must have power.

Let's take a look now at the spent fuel pool. This is where that nuclear power - those actual rods are inserted after they're taken out of the plant. And they have to be kept underwater, it's critical that power keep pumping water in and that it keep cooling that pool. That has to happen - it didn't happen in Japan, that's why we have a huge crisis over there. So they've got backup generators. They've got backups to the backup generators. I mean, just a tremendous number of auxiliary systems to make sure that pool remains cool and we do not have a nuclear crisis there.

ROMANS: What about safety at the plant? Because nuclear crisis, there's earthquakes, there's hurricanes, there's also terrorism, that was the concern after 9/11. This is so close to New York City. It was a secure facility?

CHERNOFF: Yes, and of course, since 9/11 they have tightened security ever so more. We probably went through eight or nine security levels. We also were checked for radiation that we may have received. We had dosimeter. Over here, you can see part of that safety system. We went through gates like this after and after. It was just, boy, quite an experience to get in there. And then when we were observing the actual pool, we did receive a slight dose - 0.3 level, just a fraction of what you'd get for a chest x-ray.

ROMANS: All right. Allan Chernoff, exclusive look at Indian Point. Thanks, Allan. Back to you guys.

CHETRY: All right. Christine, thanks. Well, basketball's all-time home run king in court.

VELSHI: Wait, wait. I don't know a whole lot about sports, but even I know that there are no homeruns in basketball. You want me to take this one.

CHETRY: I'm sorry. You know what I had on my mind? Kobe Bryant.

VELSHI: Clearly, you had basketball on your mind.

CHETRY: Kobe Bryant scoring 42 points last night in the triple overtime game with the Lakers. I'm sorry, we're talking baseball and we're talking Barry Bonds. He's accused of lying about his steroid use. We have more on the opening statements from his trial in San Francisco. Baseball, baseball, baseball. There is no homerun in baseball.

VELSHI: No, there is a homerun in baseball. There is no homerun in basketball.

More airlines are passing the buck. Details of yet another airfare hike. It's 41 minutes after the hour.

CHETRY: No home runs in hockey.

VELSHI: No homeruns in hockey.

CHETRY: Thank goodness.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: All right. 44 minutes past the hour right now.

There are four Democrats in the U.S. Senate who want to crackdown on Smartphone apps that actually tell drunk drivers where those sobriety check points are.

VELSHI: I didn't even know this exists but I guess people who get caught or see them, then these apps -

CHETRY: Yes, I think it's similar to when you go through radar when police - VELSHI: You tell people where it is.

CHETRY: There's a speed trap, they also do that on an app. But anyway, Nevada's Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer of New York as well as New Jersey's Lautenberg and Tom Udall of New Mexico, all of them are asking Apple, Google, and Blackberry to stop selling this app or software. It alerts drivers in real time to speed traps as well as DWI check points. Right now, they are available on iPhones, Blackberry as well as Android.

VELSHI: Well, Sprint is out with a new cell phone feature that's meant to combat distracted driving. For about $2 a month, employers, parents, or whomever can pay the bill and sign up for an app that disables phones when it detects that the user may be driving. The app locks the screen and redirects calls to voicemail. It also blocks text message alerts. The app does allow exceptions for up to three contacts.

ROMANS: For emergency calls maybe.

CHETRY: That's a loophole for the kids. But if my kids were driving, I would definitely do that.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: I am much better at it than I used to be. I used to be looking at the thing while driving. It's just too dangerous.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Next on AMERICAN MORNING, the spread of radiation in Japan prompting the FDA now to ban certain food products that are produced near the facility from entering the U.S.

And snow -- snow -- it's spring -- snow is in the northeast again this morning. Jacqui's going to have the morning's full national travel forecast right after the break. It is 45 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Good morning. And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's 48 minutes after the hour.

Here is what's new this morning. New fears about the safety of food entering the United States from Japan. The FDA has banned milk, fruit, and vegetable imports from Fukushima and three other Japanese prefectures located near the crippled Daiichi nuclear complex.

Egypt's stock market opened for business for the first time in almost two months. The market plunged five percent immediately after opening. That triggered some circuit breakers that halted trading for a time. The Egyptian Exchange shut down on January 27th, at the start of the popular uprising that brought down the President Hosni Mubarak.

And there was no big winner in last night's Mega Millions drawing. I guess that's good news for all of us. The Mega Millions jackpot is now $304 million, sure to grow in time for next week's drawing, which is -- or the next drawing, which is on Friday night. So good luck to all of you, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: All right. Top stories just minutes away, including an amazing story of what it was like to survive behind enemy lines. Yesterday the news broke about the two airmen forced to bailout over Libya, after their F-15 malfunction. We're going to hear from a man who helped save one of the men. Still ahead.

VELSHI: And she's reality TV's newest darling. Bethenny Frankel is here live and she's sharing her 10 rules for getting everything you want out of life. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Welcome back. Prosecutors have called him a walking billboard for BALCO. Testimony finally underway in Barry Bonds' perjury trial. A federal prosecutor says it's ridiculous and unbelievable that Barry Bonds thought he was taking flaxseed oil and arthritis cream when his personal trainer gave him steroids. Bonds, the all-time home run king, pleaded not guilty to making false statements to a grand jury investigating the BALCO lab in the Bay Area.

A judge in New Jersey says that Republican governor Chris Christie's cuts to school budgets are unconstitutional. Christie cut education aid by $800 million last year. The judge ruled that the budget especially hurts poor school districts. It was all in a report that was sent to the state supreme court after education activists sued over that budget. The attorney general's office says the Christie administration made the cuts it had to make in dire times.

VELSHI: He felt that that $800 million could be used elsewhere.

ROMANS: That's right. Or, he didn't have it in the first place to spend.

Rising fuel prices making it even more expensive to fly. A spokesman for United and Continental Airlines says they are raising base fares by $10 round trip on many U.S. routes. It's the eighth fare hike attempt so far this year by U.S. carriers.

VELSHI: Calls for a kid-free zone on flights are getting louder.

CHETRY: I have kids and I agree.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: We've told you many travelers want airlines to have a designated area where children can sit on planes, maybe for a quiet and less bumpy flight. Now a couple polls are confirming it, showing the majority of fliers would like a section set aside for families or adult-only cabins. (CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Top stories coming your way in just 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)