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American Morning
Tokyo Tap Water Contaminated; F-15 Crew Recovering from Crash; Chris Brown Melts Down' Another "Spider-Man" Cast Member Hurt; Indian Point Power Plant A Top Priority For Safety Review; Death Toll Rising in Japan
Aired March 23, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Tokyo's tap water now contaminated. I'm Christine Romans. The disaster is hitting close to home as the Food and Drug Administration bans food produced in northern Japan from entering the United States.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi. Just in, the coalition announcing it has stopped firing cruise missiles because Libya's air defense system has been crushed. But Moammar Gadhafi vows to hang on saying, quote, "I don't scare."
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Storms moving across the Midwest into the east. Heavy snow and rain in some places. Severe weather even triggering tornado warnings. We have the latest for you on this AMERICAN MORNING.
VELSHI: Good morning. It is Wednesday, March 23rd. Another busy one for us. We got weather going on around the country, more developments out of Libya, and more smoke out of Japan.
ROMANS: That's right. Up first, Japan's nuclear crisis is taking a turn for the worst. The tap water in Tokyo is now contaminated. Officials say it's not safe for a baby to drink.
Paula Hancocks is live in Tokyo.
Paula, tell us the latest on the contaminated tap water, also reports that the government is saying, please do not hoard the water at this point, either. It makes it confusing if you're living in Tokyo trying to figure out what to do next, Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christine. We heard from the chief cabinet secretary and then he asked people to stay calm but he also asked people not to let their infants drink the tap water. Now, we do know that the amount of radioactive iodine that's being monitored in the tap water in Tokyo is double the government limit for an infant.
So, certainly, that has got some people panicking even if the Tokyo governor is saying please keep calm. You need longer term exposure for that to be a health risk. And, inevitably, Tokyo moms are going to be very concerned about this.
And we have seen a run on water. We have seen people hoarding water even though officials have asked this shouldn't happen and we have seen some supermarkets say that they are completely out. They do say that they should have replenishments tomorrow, so they should have more water coming in.
But we also know that one shop that they're going to ration the water. They're just going to make sure that those people who are queuing, they just each have one bottle each.
So, certainly, this is a concern for people in Tokyo. We are 150 miles south of the Fukushima nuclear plant. And even though there is a call for calm, it does appear to be falling on deaf ears -- Christine.
ROMANS: And, Paula, 150 miles to the north of where you're sitting right now, as you point out -- black smoke is rising from one of the reactors at the Daiichi plant. Do we know what's causing this latest event?
HANCOCKS: No, Christine. We haven't been told by TEPCO exactly what has happened. We were told about 4:30 this afternoon local time that there was blackish, grayish smoke coming from this reactor three.
Now, of course, this has been the problem reactor for officials over the past couple days, Monday and Tuesday. We heard there was smoke emanating from this particular reactor. But as of last night, on Tuesday evening, we understood that it was barely visible.
So, of course, this is another concern. TEPCO officials at this point saying that they don't know where it is coming from and they don't know why something is burning. So, at this point, it doesn't appear they know where the smoke is coming from either.
ROMANS: All right. Paula Hancocks in Tokyo -- thank you, Paula.
VELSHI: For the first time since the tsunami struck, we are hearing from some of the heroic workers who are risking their health and possibly even their lives to stop a meltdown at the Daiichi power plant. And we're getting new pictures from inside the crippled facility. You're looking at the damage that's been done to reactor number four. These photos were taken by the Tokyo Electric Power Company. And despite the devastation, workers at the plant are cautiously optimistic that they turned the corner.
(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: Japan's news agency says two workers at the Daiichi facility were hurt last night while trying to restore power to reactor number one. Details of those injuries have not been released.
CHETRY: And to Libya now where another morning loud explosions heard in Tripoli, heavy anti-aircraft fire also reported. One former Gadhafi official now says the dictator is on the ropes. And word this morning that the coalition mission is shifting.
A U.S. military official says that the coalition has not fired any cruise missiles against targets in Libya in the last 24 hours because the Libyan air defense system has been paralyzed. All airstrikes are now coming from manned aircraft.
But Gadhafi's attacks on civilians continue. The attacks are especially intense in the strategic city of Misrata.
ROMANS: President Obama says the U.S. role in the mission has already diminished and all of the other members of coalition are maintaining the no-fly zone now. The big question next: what happens next for the U.S.?
The president sat down with CNN Espanol's Juan Carlos Lopez in El Salvador.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Can you and 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: Now, the president is cutting his Latin American trip short by a few hours to focus on these developments in Libya after his weekend in Brazil and a stop in Chile. He will leave El Salvador two and a half hours earlier, that's 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time today. He's going to conduct a National Security Council meeting from his hotel room before he leaves.
CHETRY: We're also following some extreme weather for you this morning. Storm warnings are up from the Midwest to the Northeast. But that didn't stop a couple of hardy folks with some really good wet suit, I guess you can say from -- this is in Duluth, Minnesota, by the way. They were surfing the waves of Lake Superior.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: They were out just drinking the lemonade.
In Iowa, though, some scary stuff. Dozens of tornadoes across the state. In fact, a CNN iReporter captured this video of that funnel cloud that you see. This was on tape near Des Moines. They say that areas did sustain some widespread damage at least in parts of Iowa.
Jacqui Jeras is in the extreme weather center for us. You said the funnel cloud was captured near where the bridges of Madison County, the book and movie were written about.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, near Winterset. Yes, it's about 40 minutes outside of Des Moines. It's really beautiful country. All the bridges are OK. So, that's some good news and nobody hurt in that.
Severe weather will be the big story once again today. And we could see more pictures just like that. I also think we'll see a lot of hail makers out this thing.
So, watch out in places like Cincinnati, Columbus, down toward Lexington, Kentucky, even Charleston, West Virginia, has a moderate threat of severe storms and then a slight risk, you can see, from Indianapolis, spreading over toward D.C., as we head into the afternoon and evening hours. So, a really vigorous system here. This thing is really wound up and creating some very strong winds.
Cold air on the north side of this thing is what's bringing all that snow that we've been seeing across the Upper Midwest. Minnesota and Wisconsin have been hit the hardest with as much as five to 10 inches of snowfall. And we can expect to see those numbers today in parts of Pennsylvania, as well as in central parts of New York state. We've had maybe 2 1/2 inches so far in the Buffalo area.
And it is a tale of two seasons, where we're looking at 30s and 40s across the North. We're looking at highs in the 70s and 80s across the South. Check it out -- Dallas, 84 degrees today. And the West is staying very cool as well.
We're going to continue to see the storms line up and really slam into the West Coast. California is going to be an ugly mess today, guys.
We'll talk about that, and talk about your travel forecast coming up. We got hour delays Minneapolis, 45-minute delays into O'Hare. And we expect to see a lot more cities on that list later on today.
VELSHI: All right. Jacqui, thanks very much.
ROMANS: The wreckage of the crashed American fighter jet in Libya attracting crowds in Libya this morning. The crew is safe in U.S. hands. What local said to one of the Americans who saw the plane actually go down?
CHETRY: Witnesses say singer Chris brown flipped out after a TV interview on "Good Morning America," then stormed out shirtless. What set him off and is he in any trouble this morning?
VELSHI: Well, if you I think your gym shoes stink, this kid has got to beat. Meet the winner of the rotten sneakers contest to find out what makes his shoes the smelliest in the country.
It is seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Ten minutes past the hour right now.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Egypt this morning. In fact, he arrived a little more than an hour ago. And during his visit to Cairo, he is expected to meet with head of that country's military council who's basically been running the country since longtime President Hosni Mubarak stepped back from power in February.
ROMANS: Egypt's stock market plunged nearly 5 percent after reopening for the first time in nearly two months. The sell-off triggered a circuit breaker when they stopped. They stopped trading for 30 minutes. The market shut back down -- shut down in January during that political uprising.
VELSHI: An update on a story that broke right here on AMERICAN MORNING -- a pretty amazing story of surviving behind enemy lines. We're getting new details about the heroic and fast moving rescue of those two U.S. airmen who had to bail from their F-15E Strike Eagle Libya yesterday.
Check this video. This is the wreckage -- lots of people gathering around that wreckage now. It involved dozens of Marines, at least nine Marine aircraft, and two dropped bombs to recover these two airmen.
Both of the pilot and the weapons systems officer ejected safely from the plane and suffered only minor injuries. But they were separated. The pilot was rescued first. The other crew member was given shelter by anti-Gadhafi rebels until help came for him.
Our Arwa Damon spoke to one of the first men to reach him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was afraid. I'm talking with him. I kiss him. And I tell him you are coming for us. You are our brothers. So, don't be afraid. You will be safe. We'll carry you any place you want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Imagine, I mean, how scary. He had to trust that. I mean, you know, of course, with the military training you can't just trust when you're, you know, flying these missions trying to take down an enemy that whoever comes for you has your best interest at heart.
VELSHI: Right. You got to know, this is what Spider Marks was telling us yesterday morning. You just never know what the truth is.
These two airmen from downed F-15 are recovering from their harrowing experience. One of them is aboard a Navy ship, one of the first ships to go into the region, the USS Kearsarge.
Our Diana Magnay is onboard. She joins us live on the phone right now.
Diana, have you had a chance to talk to this airman?
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Not yet, no. He's being kept in the medical facility. He is in good condition. But we haven't had a chance to speak with him and we've been told that probably isn't going to happen any time soon.
What we do know that he is in good condition, that he walked onboard the ship. And this really was a dramatic rescue. There were 30 Marines, a TRAP unit, it's called, who left from the Kearsarge and two Osprey aircraft and they had two Super Stallion helicopters as support.
And they did deploy onto the ground in eastern Libya to pick up the pilot. Obviously, as you've been reporting, his weapons officers was picked up by rebel forces and is now back on the U.S. Air Force base in Aviano. And, you know, the last time that the Marines conducted this kind of TRAP operation as it's called was back in 1995 when they rescued Captain Scott O'Grady over Bosnia.
VELSHI: Yes.
MAGNAY: Certainly, there was a feeling on board this ship, the Kearsarge right now, of great success to have managed to rescue this pilot from such a dangerous mission.
CHETRY: And as we understand it, it was not without some risk. They had to drop a bomb in the area. They didn't know, you know, if it was enemies coming toward him and apparently some civilians were injured as well in this.
MAGNAY: I'm having big difficulties hearing you.
CHETRY: Diana, I understand that you are trying to get a chance to report to us at the same time you are waiting to actually speak to one of those rescued. So, thank you so much for that report. We appreciate it.
VELSHI: Still ahead, do President Obama's actions in Libya actually violate the Constitution?
ROMANS: And the latest on singer Chris Brown. Was this a meltdown? Why he lost his cool after a TV interview and reportedly trashed a dressing room at ABC.
VELSHI: It's 14 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSH: All right. People around him --
CHETRY: You're going to love this.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: You are going to love this. I think it's kind of an interesting story. People around him said it was scary. We're talking about Chris Brown. Singer, Chris Brown, reportedly going on a rampage after an interview on "Good Morning, America" yesterday where co-anchor, Robin Roberts, expectedly asked him about his domestic abuse incident with his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna.
CHETRY: And when he answered the question, he wasn't -- I mean, he just sort of said --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: He was irritated, but he's like I want to talk about my album. I'm not talking about that in my life anymore.
VELSHI: So then, the interview ends. TMZ says he goes into his dressing room, smashes a window with a chair and storms off without a shirt. The evidence visible from the streets of Manhattan. Look at that. That's the window to his dressing room. In an interview or during the interview, as you mentioned, he stayed pretty cool. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBIN ROBERTS, CO-ANCHOR, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": Recently, the restraining order against you that Rihanna had issued has been relaxed. Have you all -- you can go to events and be in the same room. Have you all seen each other? Been around each other?
CHRIS BROWN, SINGER: I mean, not really. I mean, it's not really a big deal to me now as far as that situation. I think I'm past that in my life, and I think, today is the album. That's what I'm focused on. So, everybody go think (ph) that out.
ROBERTS: Even the judge, though, afterwards, said that you had served your time as far as the community service and that and moving on, but have you been able to? How have you been able to?
BROWN: I've been focusing on this album, you know? Definitely, this album is what I want to talk about and not the stuff that happened two years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: But it's part of his legacy. He's going to be asked that question. It was what he --
CHETRY: Or he certainly didn't make it better if he really did do this and smashed the window. The picture we showed, by the way, was him walking out after the interview on the streets of Manhattan.
VELSHI: So, ABC says hair and makeup staff had to call security because they heard loud noises coming from Brown's dressing room.
ROMANS: OK. Let's stay in Manhattan here. The Broadway musical, "Spiderman: Turn of the Dark," has lost another cast member to injury. A spokesman says the actress who plays the female lead, Arachne, was hurt during an onstage battle scene. The $65 million show has made headlines for recurring delays, recurring cast injuries, most notably, when a stunt double, Chris Tierney, fell 30 feet from a platform in December.
Spiderman is still in previews. It's now scheduled to open in early summer and word is Bono -- you know, Bono, The Edge, did the soundtrack -- who did the music lyrics for this. They are heavily involved in the remake.
VELSHI: A play hasn't been in previews for this long, I don't think, in history.
CHETRY: I mean, despite the injuries, everyone is OK. Thank goodness, but it's drummed up a lot of free publicity for this, as well.
ROMANS: They're spending millions. I mean, hopefully, they can recoup that lost money, you know?
CHETRY: How about this one? What is an irrigation ditch, smelly sneakers and $2,500 have to do with this kid? We'll tell you. The sweet smell of success really stinks for him. Nine-year-old Sterling Brinkerhof is the winner -- he's from Utah, by the way -- of the Annual Rotten Sneaker contest that's held every year in Vermont.
So, you get this? He had to travel on a plane with those sneakers. His once white low-cut sneakers were voted worst of the worst. The judge, a chemical specialist for NASA Space Missions, weighed in on how he picked a winner.
(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 --
GEORGE ALDRICH, CHEMICAL SPECIALIST FOR NASA SPACE MISSIONS: You got that very putrid smell and then you've got that, you know, like gets in your nose and gets hangs and burns and, you know, brings -- makes your eyes water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Did anyone catch that he's allowed to play in an irrigation ditch? OK. $2,500 is what the winner gets and all expense paid trip to New York to visit AMERICAN MORNING.
(LAUGHTER) CHETRY: Just kidding. And also see Mary Poppins. Also, a lifetime supply of Odor Eaters, the event sponsor. His sneakers, by the way, will be enshrined in the "Hall of Fumes."
VELSHI: All right. I don't want to be here the day that kid shows up.
All right. Detroit. Hey, listen, Detroit disappearing. The population is crashing in Motor City. Why? We'll tell you on other side. It's 21 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Startling and somewhat saddening information about a once thriving American city that has seen its population plummet. Carmen Wong Ulrich is "Minding Your Business" for us this morning. We're talking about Detroit -- Carmen.
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: Detroit. Yes. Census numbers are coming out. We've got more news here on Detroit. Full of surprises at the census. Detroit, one of the biggest, most bustling cities in the U.S., the population now at its lowest since 1910. Around 700,000 people live in Detroit now. Now, that's down 25 percent in ten years. We calculated that's one person living every 20 minutes.
VELSHI: Wow.
ULRICH: Now, the mayor, Dave Bing, is contesting these numbers because his budget depends on it. Now, why the exodus? Well, the main reasons, of course, the lost of the auto industry. So many plants now are down in the American south and overseas in China and falling home prices as a result, but not just in the city, in the suburbs, making the suburbs affordable.
That's where people are going for better schools, better safety, and lower taxes. Now, African-Americans made up half of those living the city this decade. There's a lot of big numbers there. Now, take a drive with me over a couple oceans over to China, the world's largest auto market in sales. Well, if you spend six figures on your Lamborghini, wouldn't you be mad if it was a lemon?
Well, one Chinese owner thought so, and he didn't like the company's response to his complaints. So, on World Consumer Rights Day, which is March 15th, everyone, he hired a team wielding sledgehammers to destroy the car in public. And Lamborghini says that the problem was fixed. And that owner smashed a car for, quote, "reasons that are unknown."
ROMANS: I'm sorry. Is it a limo (ph) like a $325,000 car?
ULRICH: Actually, it's around $200, $250, but to get it to China, it costs about $700,000. And that just -- that sight just makes me sad. Sad. Sad. Sad.
CHETRY: How about a letter in the mail saying, we're sorry. That problem actually has been fixed, but he didn't get it until after.
ROMANS: Do you know how rich you have to be to hire people to kill your limo (ph)?
ULRICH: And I hope he paid those guys a lot of money to do that because that's sad.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Carmen.
ULRICH: Thank you.
ROMANS: Here's your top stories this morning. Tokyo's tap water is contaminated. Officials discovering radioactive levels of iodine. That makes it dangerous for infants, for babies to drink this and milk, fruits and vegetables produced near the Daiichi Power Plant in Fukushima are now banned in America by the FDA.
The Nuclear Regulator Commission says that the Indian Point Power Plant near New York City is a top priority for a safety review. The plant sits on a fault line and a new report says it's the most vulnerable nuclear plant in America to a natural disaster. 17.4 million people live within 50 miles of Indian Point, and New York's governor concedes it would be impossible to evacuate the area in the event of a nuclear crisis.
Gadhafi's air defenses have been crushed. That's from the U.S. military this morning, and official now telling CNN that manned fighter jets are handling all air strikes. No cruise missiles launched in over a day because they now have free reign over Libyan airspace
President Obama playing defense for his decision to joint the fight. In an interview with CNN "Espanol's One," Carlos Lopez, the president even noted the irony of being a Nobel Peace prize winner and ordering air strikes but says the mission is still justified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a limited task, a focused task, and we've saved lives as a consequence, and 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)
CHETRY: So, the president giving pretty ardent (ph) support for why he decided to go to Libya, but there are some Democrats who are saying that the president's Libya policy is in shambles. The administration turns on a dime (ph) last week going against its first instinct which was to not use force and then ordering the use of force after getting a green light from the Arab league for that no-fly zone.
Well, some in Congress are saying that President Obama actually didn't have the power to do that, but he's not the first commander in chief to do that without first going to Capitol Hill for a vote. Jim Acosta is live for us in Washington. Some of the loudest critics said the same thing about President Bush.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran. You know, and this has been going on for decades, this constitutional tug of war between the White House and the Congress. And while the president is talking about winding down the U.S. role in Libya, 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)
OBAMA: 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 result the political disagreement that lies at 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 clear. What to do about it is cut of 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 present danger to the United States of America. Consequently I 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 saying Congress shall have the power to declare war. But Mr. Obama supporter not the 1973 War Powers resolution allows president 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 authority in Libya as commander in chief.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We can stand up to 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 authorization but he did provide a letter consistent with War Powers Act.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Democratic critics of the president's use of force are not buying that. But they are also going to great lengths to make clear this is not personal, as Congressman Kucinich said it yesterday to me in an interview. He said he likes the president but loves his constitution more.
Kiran, this is more than just Dennis Kucinich and a few members in the House. Last night Senator Susan Collins, Republican moderate from Maine tweeted out her displeasure about this use of force without going through Congress first. Kiran?
CHETRY: All right, it's funny. It's hard to mince that. It's an impeachable offense but I really like the guy. You know? He's been pretty consistent. He said the same thing about former President Bush. Thanks so much, Jim.
VELSHI: This is a story we were happy to bring that those four "The New York Times" journalists were freed. They described their ordeal. Reporter Anthony Shadid and photographer Lynsey Addario and Tyler Hicks and videographer Stephen Farrell have written a joint article "The New York Times." This excerpt of the article reveals the brutality of their pro-Gadhafi captors.
I quote, "You have a beautiful head, he told Tyler in a mix of English and Arabic. I'll remove it and put it on mine. I'm going to cut it off. Tyler feeling queasy asked to sit down. We were put in a pickup where a soldier taunted Lynsey, you might die tonight, he told her as he ran his hand over her face. Maybe, maybe not."
The four journalists were eventually released with the help of Turkey's ambassador to Libya and have been reunited with their families.
ROMANS: A year after the passing of health reform in this country, we'll sort through the myths and facts and misconceptions next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Exactly one year ago President Obama signed the health care reform bill into law. It's still being challenged in the courts. "Consumer Reports: ranks everything from cars to kitchen appliances, everything that you, the consumer use. Now they are out to separate fact from fiction in health care reform, because you are the ultimate consumer of this new law. Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor for Consumer Reports, joins me now. Welcome to the program. One of the first kinds of myths out there is that somehow this was going to keep your cost down or that somehow health care reform has made your health care more expensive. That's just not quite true, is it?
NANCY METCALF, PROGRAM EDITOR, CONSUMER REPORTS HEALTH: No. Most of the cost effects of health reform have yet to be felt and may never be felt. The few changes that have already happened have added very little if anything to health care costs.
ROMANS: They were rising on their own without this.
METCALF: They've been rising for years. That's why we need health reform because so many middle class Americans are priced out of health care because of it.
ROMANS: We know when you look at bankruptcy and one of the top causes for bankruptcy are medical bills and also the access to medical care. The president's supporters of health care reform said this isn't about free health care but access to health care making sure that children and people with preexisting conditions could get health care. Those are in effect right now. A lot of the other measures of health care don't go into effect until 2014.
METCALF: What I call big health care reform goes into effect in 2014 when adults with preexisting conditions cannot be turned down for insurance, but more importantly all kinds of subsidies and help will come into play that will help people afford health insurance who can't afford it right now.
There's another myth about Medicare. This frightens seniors. They think their medical benefits have been or will be drastically reduced. What does your analysis from health care experts and economists find?
METCALF: It's interesting because seniors are the first to benefit from health reform. Their benefits are not being cut at all. In fact, they've gotten extra benefits. They get free preventive care and they get increasing amounts of help paying for prescription drugs. So it's all good for them.
ROMANS: You say that there are components in reform that will allow Medicare to find ways to cut costs. Health care costs have been skyrocketing. If they work, they can apply to broader health care industry.
METCALF: Exactly.
ROMANS: Let's talk about something else. The middle class Americans are worse off because of health care reform.
METCALF: No. In fact, eventually they will be better off because if you have insurance through a big employer, it will probably be the same. But if you buy on your own or a small business or want to quit your job to work for small business, you'll have access to affordable insurance, which is not the case today.
ROMANS: One of the things that a lot of people think this won't make impact in their life. They work for a company and maybe they have health care through the company or health care somehow doesn't impact them. Is it because so many provisions don't start for a few more years?
METCALF: I think people don't understand health insurance anyway. We add on a very complicated new law rolling out over three years, no wonder people are confused. Come 2014 I think they'll see a big difference.
ROMANS: Why do you think there's such opposition to the implementation of this law? We know that government that Health and Human Services is writing these rules and going ahead with reform. We know the courts and conservatives are still trying to knock it down.
METCALF: That's all political. Many, many millions, even hundreds of millions of dollars were spent turning the public against health reform. And because people don't understand it, it's really easy to make people believe that something nefarious is going on.
ROMANS: A new industry report is out from a sector of Deloitte, the auditing company and research company that says consumers may pay billions of dollars more in out of cost health care expenses to the tune of $363 billion in hidden costs, and more out of pocket expenses than previously thought. How does health care reform factor into that? Is that because of health care reform or despite it?
METCALF: What that report is talking about family caregivers who have help for elderly or disabled relatives. There's actually a piece of the health care law called the class act which doesn't have attention yet because it won't happen for five or six years that will provide money to help families in that situation, including money that can pay family caregivers who have no way of being paid today.
ROMANS: Ted Kennedy's championed this. It was a way that those support in the class act were concerned you spend so much money going into a nursing home, but if you could keep people at home with family care givers it would be less expensive to the system longer term.
So separating the fact from fiction, will the question about health care reform go away or is this still a fight?
METCALF: I suppose it's still going to be a fight. There's several court cases winding through sure to end up in the Supreme Court. But we try to keep our eye on the ball of the consumer and are pretty confident that once this whole thing is in place it will help a lot of people.
ROMANS: You have a first year play by play and how to navigate it. We'll tweet out and put that link on CNN.com/AM. Thanks so much. Back to you guys.
VELSHI: We could study this for a year and I think a lot of people don't know how this affects them. It's a great discussion. We're two days into spring, three days into spring. It feels like winter for a lot of this country.
CHETRY: We're talking a nasty spring, tornadoes, snowstorms.
VELSHI: Thunderstorms, snow moving through the Midwest and into the northeast. Jacqui Jeras joins us right after this break for full weather report.
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VELSH: Whenever I see a beautiful Midwestern city I always assume that Christine has been there to spend a lot of time.
ROMANS: Oh yes.
VELSHI: Green Bay, Wisconsin?
ROMANS: Yes, I'm actually a Bears fans. But I have Green Bay --
(CROSS TALK)
VELSHI: It's a beautiful --
CHETRY: I love that you had to get that out there. I'm a Bears fan.
ROMANS: Well, I love Green Bay.
(CROSS TALK)
VELSHI: Its light snow -- white snow, windy and 27. But later today it's going to be light snow, windy and 27 in Green Bay it's going to stay exactly the same.
Jacqui Jeras, in the Extreme Weather Center and frankly, today Jacqui, staying the same is not a bad thing. Because there are lots in the country that's going to get -- things are going to get a lot worse.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. And I'm so sad you're a Bears fan by the way.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Are you a Cheese head?
CHETRY: Are you Cheese head?
JERAS: No, I'm a Vikings fan.
ROMANS: Oh Vikings.
JERAS: But we're in the cheese head though, because -- so when Vikes can't win then the Packers have to win. Anyway --
ROMANS: Oh we have to -- we have some serious troubles, my friend. VELSHI: A little. That's the fight going on here.
JERAS: Sorry, Christine.
Hey, speaking of Green Bay and you know, we saw that live picture, check out this video for people who are trying to drive around. Really nasty conditions, they've had 11.5 inches so far in Green Bay; 7.8 of that fell before midnight, which was a record for yesterday. A very flick roadways, kind of on the icy side and we've also got some slushy conditions kind of scattered around there.
And the winds are really brutal with this thing too by the way right now. Winds are gusting around 37 miles per hour. So we're just kind of holding below that blizzard criteria. So the blizzard warnings have been canceled; they've been replaced with winter storm warnings. But either way it's lighted.
You know, stay home today if you don't have to get out there. Call your boss. You've got a good excuse. In fact, my relative from north central Wisconsin message me and said this is the first time she's called out because of the weather. Yes, that's how brutal it is across parts of the Midwest.
This thing stretches into the northeast too by the way and things are really going downhill across part of upstate New York, into Pennsylvania, even northern New Jersey getting in on some of the snowfall now and this is going to be impacting not just those roadways we were talking about.
But check out all the airport delays already, man. This list has doubled since earlier this morning. Ground stop for you in Minneapolis; LaGuardia an hour and a half; 45 minutes in Baltimore; Chicago, 45 minutes and as that sun comes up or maybe not so much because of the clouds out west, we'll start to see delays in places like San Francisco and Los Angeles as well.
So both coasts of the country nasty today and more severe weather this afternoon in the Ohio Valley. Lots of ugly out there today.
VELSHI: Lots of ugly. All right, Jacqui thanks.
(CROSS TALK)
JERAS: Yes but not on that desk.
ROMANS: And there's a big nice sun right in the middle.
CHETRY: Thanks Jacqui. Yes, lots of ugly. Back to you. Thanks Jacqui.
Well, airlines passing the buck again to passengers. The rising cost of fuel, jet fuel making it more expensive to fly. A spokesman for United and Continental Airlines saying that they are now raising base fares by $10 round trip on many U.S. routes.
It is eighth fare hike attempt so far this year by U.S. carriers. They always say attempt because they did try to do it and it didn't work a few times.
(CROSS TALK)
VELSHI: They -- and everybody else has to kind of do it.
CHETRY: Right and the low-cost airlines weren't on board.
VELSHI: And they call it sticky. They say it sticks if they --
(CROSS TALK)
ROMANS: But airfares -- I mean airfares are moving up. But they're still pretty cheap.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: I mean, I just got tickets for $229 last -- $229 last minute. You can't possibly afford to be able to take me across the country for $229 bucks.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: But anyway calls for a kids free zone on flights are getting louder we told you that many travelers would like airlines to have designated areas where children, little darlings, could sit on the plane maybe for a quiet and less bumpy ride.
Now a couple of new polls are confirming it, showing a majority of flyers would like set aside sections for families or adult only cabins. That sounds actually funny.
(CROSS TALK)
VELSHI: I'm on the record -- I'm on the record as a guy who flies a lot as saying I don't think that's necessary. I think babies and children are part of life and we should -- we should enjoy their noises like the symphony.
(CROSS TALK)
ROMANS: This guy knows --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: I wish more people thought like you.
ROMANS: -- his audience.
VELSHI: And you guys have kids. You guys don't have kids.
CHETRY: Right, I don't -- I do not take my kids on an airplane.
ROMANS: I do.
CHETRY: I -- I and if I had to, I just as soon not -- I can't do it. VELSHI: All right, you know what? I'll take your kids for trips.
CHETRY: But I do like the idea -- I do like the idea --
(CROSS TALK)
ROMANS: Well, we do have a nanny, we have a manny.
CHETRY: Ali Velshi a nanny -- nice.
ROMANS: Would you leave your kids alone with Ali that's it?
CHETRY: Well --
VELSHI: I'm fun. Kids love me. First of all, I look like them because of the hair.
ROMANS: You're Shrek, right?
VELSHI: We've got more news for you -- we've got more news for you in a second. It is 10 -- 11 minutes to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-two minutes past the hour.
Now, we're turning to Japan's nuclear crisis and food and safety concerns nearly two weeks after the devastating earthquake and tsunami. And we're getting a very sobering update on the casualty account. More than 9,400 people are confirmed dead and still close to 15,000 remain missing.
Kyung Lah, is live in Ishinomaki, Japan where officials are searching for missing children. This has got to be a very, very tough thing.
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A very tough thing, especially when I just tell you about one slice of this search, Kiran. At this elementary school here in Ishinomaki, on the day that the earthquake happened, remember there was an earthquake before the tsunami. The children were evacuated out of this elementary school. There were 108 students inside the school.
Well, the tsunami hit and they simply weren't expecting it. That tsunami out of the 108 children washed away 77 of them. According to the city here, 77 are presumed missing or dead and at this point -- think about the children who have survived and the trauma that they are suffering through. The parents, I spoke to the parents of these missing children and they are almost stoic. They -- they can't even emote because the trauma is simply too high.
So up and down this coast there are people who are still trying to cope with this devastation and this massive loss -- Kiran.
CHETRY: That's devastating. Say 108 kids, 77 washed away. How were they able to rescue the others? Because there's -- you know, witnesses tell us it just literally swept entire schools and entire villages away.
LAH: Some of these children because the earthquake happened and then the tsunami happened, the children were sent home and so the ones who left on foot or went by bicycle were actually able to get to higher ground before the tsunami came in.
But the children who took school buses home or were waiting for their school buses they're the ones who simply could not escape the tsunami.
CHETRY: And what -- what's being done to help those? I imagine that there's a lot of need out there for those who actually survived this disaster?
LAH: Well there certainly is and the need is a little different in this disaster than in other worldwide disasters we've seen. So we're starting to see aid agencies really land on the ground.
Now, as far as food and water, those types of needs are really being taken care of by the Japanese government and by donations by foreign governments. Aid organizations are sort of taking a unique role here. Like Save the Children, a very big worldwide organization. What they're doing is they're going into the evacuation centers and they're starting up these places called Child Friendly Centers.
And these places actually allow children a chance to play, to color, to talk to each other, to skip rope. It's not very long, maybe just a couple hours. But it gives them a break, a chance to be children amid all of this devastation.
CHETRY: Understandable. Probably -- certainly is a welcome break right now as you said.
All right, Kyung Lah covering this for us in northern Japan today. Thanks so much.
VELSHI: Well, the turmoil that sparked the military action that we're seeing in Libya as part of an escalating wave of unrest which, as you know, has been erupting across north Africa in the Middle East. In Syria now, a seventh straight day of anti-government protests.
Human rights group says Syrian authorities opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators killing six people. The reported attack comes one day after a prominent rights leader was taken from his home and arrested. Organizers are planning a day of mass protests on Friday in a regime that has not traditionally taken well like many of them across north Africa and Middle East to these sorts of protests.
ROMANS: 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.
Political demonstrations there have often turned into violent clashes between police and protesters. There are reports this morning that Bahrain's military is shortening the curfew in parts of the capital.
CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. AMERICAN MORNING coming right back. It's 56 minutes past the hour.
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VELSHI: You know, the best part about that song which is always brought up when there's a lottery story is that they are good Canadians. That's an excellent Canadian group.
ROMANS: I think of big lottery payouts, I think Canada.
VELSHI: In Canada, $1 million is a big lottery payout. In America things are a little bit different. No big winner in last night's Mega-millions drawing. That means that monster jackpot estimated at $304 million and that's likely to grow in time for the drawing which is on Friday night. Good luck to you all.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: We're going to pool. By the time -- we have so many people in the pool that we're each going to get $75,000 -- all right -- if we win.
ROMANS: Nice.
VELSHI: We'll be here the next day.
ROMANS: Thanks you guys. We'll see you tomorrow.
CHETRY: Bright and early. Meantime "CNN NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello starts right now. Hey Carol.
