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American Morning
President Defends Action in Libya; Japan Situation: Very Grave; Volkswagen Recalls Jettas; New York Times to Charge for Browsing Online Content; Uprising in Syria; Nuclear Overflow Fears
Aired March 29, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: On this AMERICAN MORNING, highly toxic plutonium has been discovered in the soil at Japan's Daiichi power station. A top government official calling the nuclear crisis there very grave. Tons of contaminated water has to be pumped out of the plant soon. The trouble is there is no place to put it.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama making his case to the American people saying we had to get involved in Libya to head off a humanitarian crisis. But at least one prominent senator wants to know why we're not going specifically after Moammar Gadhafi.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Also, the latest on the search for that deadly cobra that's missing from the reptile house at the Bronx zoo. How's this for a sign of the times? The snake now has its own Twitter page with thousands of followers.
VELSHI: It needs a four square page so we can find it out where it is.
Plus, a US Airways pilot discovers a hole in his plane. All of that is ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A lot happening overnight. I'm Ali Velshi. Let's get you up to date.
President Obama defending his decision to take military action in Libya. Not getting involved, he says, would have risked a bloodbath by Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Just how to get Gadhafi out is a subject of a conference of world leaders that's about to get underway in London.
CHETRY: There's a lot going on in Japan this morning, as well. A top government official says the nuclear crisis in Japan is now very grave. I'm Kiran Chetry.
In order to head of a large scale catastrophe, tons of radioactive water has to now be pumped out of the Daiichi plant. But a big problem, where to put it.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. Honk if you want to stop. Volkswagen recalling thousands of Jettas because honking the horn could shut down the car. A lot going on. Let's get started. AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
VELSHI: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Tuesday, March 29th.
ROMANS: A lot going on today in Japan and Libya, trying to figure out what to do next with Moammar Gadhafi. The president making his case last night, but a lot happening in Japan, as well.
CHETRY: Absolutely.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: We want to get you started though with the president's case last night for U.S. military action in Libya. The president addressed the nation and also critics who said he failed to fully explain his decision to order air strikes. Last night, President Obama described the situation in Libya as, quote, "unique" and said the U.S. intervened militarily to prevent a humanitarian crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's true that America cannot use our military wherever repression occurs. And given the costs and risks of intervention, we must always measure our interests against the need for action. But that cannot be an argument for never acting on behalf of what's right. Of course, there is no question that Libya and the world would be better off with Gadhafi out of power. I along with many other world leaders have embraced that goal and will actively pursue it through non-military means. But broadening our military mission to include regime change would be a mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And to further that point on regime change, the president said, quote, "We went down that road in Iraq." He also said that history is not on Gadhafi's side. He says NATO will assume full control of the Libyan mission Wednesday, and the U.S. will play a supporting role, reducing the risk and the cost of the operation.
ROMANS: The president's speech was not enough to satisfy some critics on Capitol Hill. House Speaker John Boehner said the president's speech failed to provide much clarity. Arizona Republican Senator John McCain taking issue with the decision not to remove Gadhafi by force. McCain suggesting it gives the Libyan dictator encouragement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: He made a very puzzling comment. And that was regime change by force would be a mistake. Gadhafi must have been somewhat comforted by that. If we end up in a situation where Gadhafi is able to cling to power, then we could easily see a reenactment of what happened after the first gulf war. A stalemate, no-fly zone lasted for 10 years and didn't bring Saddam Hussein out of power. Look, the reason why we wage wars is to achieve results of a policy that we state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Senator John McCain will join us live at 7:40 Eastern this morning. We're going to get reaction from the Democratic side of the aisle with Illinois Senator Dick Durbin at 8:10 Eastern.
VELSHI: Meantime, the fight for Libya rages on with opposition forces pushing toward Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. After advancing into territory held by Gadhafi's forces, Libyan rebels were forced to pull back under heavy weapons fire. As the battle continues in several Libyan towns, opposition leaders will be meeting in London with Secretary of State Clinton and other world leaders on ways to get Gadhafi to leave.
And happening right now in Syria, thousands of people pouring into the streets of the capital Damascus, but this appears to be a rally in favor of President Bashar al-Assad. The tense situation is building elsewhere in the country. This video just obtained from YouTube reportedly shot a few days ago in Damascus is showing a man being beaten up before he is thrown into a white van. The Syrian government repeating a familiar line, blaming the violence on foreigners. A U.N. spokesman says at least 37 people have died in clashes there since last week.
CHETRY: We have an update for you, not a good one in Japan. Japanese officials are now saying the situation at the nuclear plant, the Daiichi plant is, quote, "very grave" this morning. Highly toxic plutonium has now been discovered in the soil around the plant, further evidence that the reactors at the facility have been severely damaged. They're also dealing with another big problem that's preventing any movement on trying to get this under control, and that is that they have large pools of radioactive water in several locations that now has to be pumped out before electricity can be restored to the plant's cooling systems. But there is so much of this water that officials say they have no safe place to store it.
Well, you can add South Carolina to the list of states that have detected minute amounts of radiation fallout from Japan's crippled nuclear power plant. State officials say that the levels of iodine 131 do not pose a health risk, but they're about a -- and they're a thousand times lower than a typical chest x-ray or dental x-ray. The state, though, plans to keep testing water, air, and soil samples as a precaution.
ROMANS: OK. Honk the horn and stall out. Volkswagen says it's recalling about 71,000, 2011 Jettas because of a wiring issue that could cause the car to short circuit and turn of when the drivers honk the horn. Volkswagen is not aware of any accidents or injuries because of this problem.
VELSHI: I'm guessing there's an easy fix to that. That seems like a short if I've ever seen one.
All right. This one actually troubles me a lot.
New this morning, the FBI trying to figure out what caused a small hole in a US Airways jet. Get this, a pilot discovered the hole on the outside of his Boeing 737 fuselage yesterday. It was during a pre-flight inspection, a typical pre-flight walk around. The plane had just flown from Philadelphia to Charlotte. The aircraft was quickly taken off the tarmac. More than 140 passengers scheduled to fly on that plane were booked on other flights.
CHETRY: So the pre-flight walk around worked.
VELSHI: The pre-flight walk around is proven to work, but it doesn't always happen. And frankly, it's --
ROMANS: All that technology --
VELSHI: Right. And it's meant to catch slightly less obvious things than a hole in a plane. I'm just thinking -- that whole thing just troubles me.
CHETRY: And it was flying from Philly.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: The route you take.
VELSHI: Some place I fly from all the time.
All right. Plenty of partisan sniping going on this morning as Democrats and Republicans continue their federal budget talks. Now, they've not reached an agreement yet on funding for the rest of this fiscal year.
Remember President Obama talked about his budget. That's for next year. This is this year. Congress doesn't want to approve another short-term extension. Now without a budget, parts of the government could begin shutting down as early as next week.
Minnesota braces for major flooding. The state's biggest concern right now is the Mississippi River in St. Paul. It may be pretty, but officials warn it is dangerous. The river is expected to crest soon. Water levels may even pass 19 feet. The city has shut down some nearby roads and Harriet Island Park. Meanwhile, other rivers across the state have already flooded.
ROMANS: All of us who grew up along the Mississippi River, this is a rite of passage.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Every spring in my hometown they are sandbagging to blues, beer and pizza, everyone getting together to try the --
CHETRY: At least you make it fun, right?
ROMANS: There you go. It's seven minutes after the hour. Let's get a check of the weather headlines. Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center.
This is, I'm telling you, in the Midwest, up north in the great plains, anybody living along the river, this is the time of year they dread.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, sandbagging parties, I guess. Down south it's hurricane parties. Up there, it's sandbagging parties.
ROMANS: That's right. That's right.
I'll tell you what, the one thing that may help here over the next couple of weeks is what people are probably complaining about right now, which is it's been pretty cold. feeling more like winter than spring and those colder temperatures across the northern tier and the northeast will help, you know, limit the amount of snowmelt, or at least slow it. And maybe even refreeze part of the river. So that will help.
It's 22 right now in Minneapolis. So there you go, below freezing. Thirty degrees, 31 in Chicago, and 32 degrees in New York City.
We do have a little trouble on the radar. It's going to appear down across the midsection sliding towards Chicago, although it will probably miss it to the south. A little bit of snow from Cedar Rapids back through Peoria, but this is a fairly weak system and will energize its -- and focus most of its stuff down to the south. And that will cause more in the way of showers and thunderstorms.
A ton of snow and that west coast energy are now coming out of the Rockies, and that's going to energize the stuff that's going on in the gulf coast. Now will make for a bit of a mess from Texas, to Louisiana, Mississippi, and eventually that will push up across the southeast tomorrow.
Sixty-two for the high temperature, expected in Atlanta. Maybe a couple degrees cooler than that, and eventually getting into the lower 40s across parts of New York.
Still continuing this bit of a chill, guys. Sorry about that. We're just easing into spring.
ROMANS: We don't blame you, Rob. You just deliver the news, just the facts for Rob Marciano.
MARCIANO: Get your sandbagging parties.
ROMANS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: I guess here in the northeast, we just have to wear hat and gloves until June parties.
VELSHI: That's it. That's it. Yes.
CHETRY: Because it is still literally below freezing. That's for the day.
Well, Willie Nelson will have to sing for his freedom. A west Texas prosecutor offered a plea deal in Willie Nelson's latest pot bust. Probably underline latest. This happens all the time, I guess.
It includes singing a song and paying 100 bucks. The 75-year--old was charged with marijuana possession after his tour bus was searched by U.S. border patrol agents near the Mexico border. This happened last November. The prosecutor says there was no way he was going to be mean to Willie Nelson and the deal could include him playing his hit song "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" live in the courtroom as his community service.
Now, it's no fun and games but, I mean, is he getting special treatment here? I mean --
ROMANS: I mean, there are an awful lot of people jailed on --
CHETRY: Lesser things.
ROMANS: On drug crimes -- on drug crimes who don't get a chance to sing for their freedom and have all kinds of issues because of their arrest.
CHETRY: I guess the prosecutor feels it's Willie Nelson.
VELSHI: Well, I think we'll be hearing from some other people on that.
Hey, home run king Barry Bonds who I think doesn't get to hit a home run in the courtroom, he's on trial facing obstruction and perjury charges. Testifying against him is a former "Playboy" model and a baseball trainer. We'll tell you what they had to say about the slugger's alleged steroid use.
ROMANS: Former President Jimmy Carter in Havana meeting with Cuban leader Raul Castro today. He's expected to lobby for the release of a jailed American contractor.
CHETRY: Minus the blood and the sweat, "Rocky and Rambo" sure looks good. Sly Stallone entering the fashion world, a clothing line inspired by some of his most favorite characters.
Eleven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Before the president's speech, the Pentagon revealed new information concerning the situation on the ground in Libya during Operation Odyssey Dawn. Here is a snapshot.
What we know, coalition strike aircraft continued to go after Gadhafi regime forces near Misrata, Sirte and Ras Lanuf. Six tomahawk land attack cruise missiles were launched from sea over the weekend against the headquarters of Gadhafi's 30-second loyal brigade. And the coalition has flown now 178 sorties with the majority being strike- related.
Here's the overall amount of the sorties so far. You see 619. The box at the right totals it all up since the beginning of the operation. The green bar is a number of sorties per day. There you go. And the blue represents those flown by U.S. pilots, yellow by the coalition. As you can see, the numbers continue to rise, but the amount is now evening out according to the Pentagon. You can also finally see where the breakdown of just the missions that are devoted to air -- air to ground missions.
Again, the numbers at the right are totals for the entire operation over there -- 735. From Friday to Sunday, there was an increase in strikes from 91 to 107. But the majority each day were flown by U.S. partner nation pilots. So, of the total 736 strikes, 370 were U.S., 365 coalition.
While the United States is still flying strike missions, the Pentagon says it's providing 80 percent of all air refueling, almost 75 percent of aerial surveillance, and 100 percent of electronic warfare missions. NATO will assume the command of the mission tomorrow, you guys.
VELSHI: Hey, it's day two of former President Jimmy Carter's trip to Cuba. He's on a private visit in an effort to strengthen ties between the two countries. Carter's meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro today. The former president is also expected to lobby for the release of the American contractor Alan Gross. Gross was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison for what Cuban officials claim were subversive activities.
CHETRY: A Saudi student in Texas is denying he was plotting to bomb the home of former president George W. Bush. Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari pleaded not guilty in federal court yesterday. He's charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors say he bought bomb-making materials earlier this year to use against Bush's home and several nuclear facilities. Now, his trial is set to begin in May. And if convicted, he faces a life sentence in prison.
Some explosive testimony against Barry Bonds taking place from the home run king's ex-girlfriend. Former Playboy model Kimberly Bell took the stand yesterday. She said that Bonds admitted to her he used steroids between '99 and 2000. San Francisco Giants equipment manager Mike Murphy also testified. He told the courts that Bonds' hat size changed around the time that he set the single season home run record in 2001.
Now, skull growth is believed to be one of the side effects of performance enhancing drugs. Bonds is on trial for perjury and obstruction of justice in that case.
And a little later today, attorneys for Wal-Mart will try to convince the Supreme Court to throw out a class action sex discrimination suit filed against the retail giant. Wal-Mart accused of paying women less than men for same amount of work and passing them over for promotions. If this case is allowed to move forward and Wal-Mart loses, their attorneys predict that corporate America could be crippled by a wave of new class action lawsuits.
VELSHI: Yes, an interesting case. We'll be talking to Jeff Toobin about it later. A lot of other major corporations are siding with Wal-Mart on this, and what it's leading some people to think is, wait a second, are our corporations too big to sue? You know, that they're so big --
CHETRY: Right, but the other question that I think is fascinating is how are they going to prove that it was a systemic discrimination? I mean, these are people that are alleging that their individual managers and they're brought together --
ROMANS: Because Wal-Mart as a company has very uniform policies, and that's why it's managed to grow so big. Because Wal-Mart takes some -- store by store -- you walk into a Wal-Mart anywhere, it's exactly --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: It'll still going to be difficult for them to try to prove that each individual manager --
VELSHI: Remember, this case isn't about proving it or not. This case is just about whether or not -- it's a class action or it's not and that's -- that may be the bigger case at the moment because if we decide our corporations are too big to sue, that's a problem.
Talking about too big. Ever watch "Rocky" or "Rambo" and wonder what is he wearing? Listen to this, Sylvester Stallone, the --
CHETRY: He wasn't wearing much.
VELSHI: I was going to say -- what -- most of it said Everlast on it. He's Launching a new clothing line called Sly Inc. It's a men's line inspired by his films "Rambo" and "Rocky," catering to the --
CHETRY: Now, that's an outfit.
VELSHI: I'm quoting now -- fresh -- the velour hoodie -- catering to the rebel and the gentleman. The line will include jeans, shirts, jackets, underwear, and watches.
Now listen, I spent half of my life in Philly so don't be talking smack about Rocky.
CHETRY: Hey, I love him. I'm just saying, what are they going to sell? Basically muscle skin T-shirts?
I was also trying to figure out, which one was the gentleman and which one was the rebel? Rambo or Rocky?
VELSHI: I'm very eager to see that line of clothing.
All right. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, if you've been to an airport lately, you've more than likely walked through one of those new full body scanners. Did it just two days ago. But a new study finds that they posed some health risks. We'll tell you what they are. CHETRY: Also, don't wait until it's too late. There is a new survey finding men do not like going to the doctor. I'm married to one, you don't need a survey. But we're going to explain why that may be so hazardous to their health.
It's 20 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The "New York Times" unveiled its online pay wall yesterday making it the latest online publication to start charging for access.
Stephanie Elam is Minding Your Business.
Free content is going away.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's going away. But, you know, it's not as bad as it sounds for people who like to go to NewYorkTimes.com and get their information. It'll still be there for casual readers, because this is actually on how they're planning on doing it.
What they're going to say is, you know what, we still need people to come to the site who are casual readers because they actually generate ad sales. But we also need the hard core NYT.com visitors to actually come here and pay for what they're getting, because, you know what, we've got content -- that's what the "New York Times" says -- and we need to keep a robust news room. That's their argument here.
So, here's what's going to happen. They're setting the limit at 20 articles every four weeks. If you get the -- if you stay below that, you don't have to pay. Time to get to article 21? Guess what, you're going to hit that pay wall.
And this is what they're saying -- $15 for every four weeks for unlimited online and Smartphone content, $20 for online access and the iPad app, as well. And then $35, you get the full digital package, you can have everything. But if you get the newspaper delivered to your house, you don't have to pay for anything. You get it all because they're saying the print people, they're just really declining.
VELSHI: That's a whole lot cheaper then --
ELAM: Obviously. But some people just don't want it, right? If you're on the go, you're flying all over the place, you have houses in three different cities. Imagine somebody like that. That's crazy, right? Then that person might just prefer to read the "New York Times" on the phone.
VELSHI: I think it's a waste of paper because when I had the paper coming to my house, it just piles up.
ELAM: And people know you're gone.
ROMANS: I think though when you start paying for content, I wonder if people are going to revert to their corners. And we've already seen people kind of seek out using online media, seek out what they already agree with or what they already know. And I wonder if you find people, if I have to pay for my news, I'm only going to get this, this, and this, because it's my ideology.
VELSHI: And it's free.
ROMANS: Or --
ELAM: Or --
(CROSSTALK)
ELAM: It agrees with what I say. Right, that's what she's saying.
ROMANS: And people somehow get a narrower view of the world.
ELAM: But they're saying -- the thing that's interesting here is that there are business papers that do this already, that have been doing it for years. The "Washington Journal of Financial Times," " News Day," they already have pay walls set up. "Wall Street Journal" is actually $155 a year, $260 a year for the "Financial Times." So there's papers that do this.
This would be the first general content newspaper to do this and that's why they know they can't shut off the whole thing. Even if you have a link that comes to you via Facebook or Twitter, they'll still allow access because they know they've got to get those ads in front of people and so therefore they want to make sure they're doing it.
CHETRY: That's the interesting part. So I'm also curious what this does to the news aggregators sites because if you can't access a "Wall Street Journal" article but if it's on a news aggregator site, you can pull up the full article.
ELAM: Right. You'll get the people who are just going to -- but remember, they're expecting that most people will not pay for content. The "New York Times" is not expecting that most people -- they're saying the casual readers are going to come and like, oh that article's interesting, I'm going to read that. And maybe they do that three times a month and so they'll be fine. And so in general, for most people, it's not going to change. But for others, get ready to dip into your app store and pick up a little (INAUDIBLE).
ROMANS: Thanks Stephanie.
CHETRY: Thanks, Steph.
ELAM: Sure.
VELSHI: All right. Full-body scanners at the airports. You know the ones, you've got to take everything out of your pocket and they can see everything you've got. A new report finds they do pose some risk for cancer. Don't worry. Researchers say the chances of this are extremely low. That seems to be the thing with radiation, right? Everybody's telling you the chances are extremely low. The scanners use small doses of ionizing radiation, which is a known carcinogen, but to put it in perspective --
CHETRY: You're not bringing up millisieverts again, are you?
VELSHI: I'm not going to say millisieverts. The study explains that for every 100 million passengers who take seven flights a year, only six cancer cases were detected over a lifetime.
Wow, are you running the math on a calculator on there?
CHETRY: I don't know if that's comfort though.
VELSHI: I don't know that that's comforting either.
CHETRY: Well, we've all gone through a bad breakup in our lives and it hurts. In fact, it hurts as bad as getting burned, physically. A new study says that getting dumped actually triggers the same feelings as being physically burned.
Researchers gave dozens of broken hearted folks an MRI and then when asked to think about their exes, it lit up in the same part of the brain that recognizes painful burning sensation sensations. In other words, the brain doesn't distinguish between intense emotional pain and physical pain.
Isn't that interesting?
VELSHI: Wow, that is interesting.
ROMANS: That's a tough breakup to be so heartbroken you want -- you say, yes, I'll do that study.
VELSHI: Yes, no kidding.
ROMANS: You know, you don't ask for directions and they don't go to the doctor apparently, either.
VELSHI: Oh, we're talking about men, right?
ROMANS: Yes, we are. And they don't think they're old until 58.
A new survey in "Esquire" magazine says about half of men aged 18 to 50 don't have a primary care physician and a third haven't had a check-up in more than a year.
VELSHI: I can't say I don't believe that. That sounds right.
ROMANS: And as they get older, that could be more dangerous. Forty percent of men in their 40s have never had their cholesterol tested, 70 percent have never had a prostate exam.
VELSHI: Yes, that's bad. CHETRY: The cholesterol level and the blood pressure is really important, though, because some of that stuff, you can really nip it in the bud.
VELSHI: I wonder why. I'd be curious to know. I'm one of them.
ROMANS: You really?
VELSHI: I actually do go regularly, but I don't enjoy it. I don't think of it as an improvement to my life. I like my doctor, but I don't know.
CHETRY: I look forward to going, it's fun. Sorry.
Japan's nuclear crisis now being called very grave by government officials. Highly toxic plutonium discovered leaking into the soil at the crippled Daiichi power plant. We'll take you live to Tokyo.
ROMANS: A retired firefighter has seen some of the world's worst tragedies. The earthquake that rocked Haiti, the 9/11 attacks. Now he makes his journey to Japan. We're going to have his amazing story straight ahead.
It's 27 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: It's half past the hour. That means time for this morning's top stories.
President Obama defending the mission. He says intervening in Libya saved countless civilian lives and was the right thing to do. But he says removing Moammar Gadhafi by force was not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we tried to overthrow Gadhafi by force, our coalition would splinter. We would likely have to put U.S. troops on the ground to accomplish that mission, or risk killing many civilians from the air. The dangers faced by our men and women in uniform would be far greater. So would the costs, and our share of the responsibility for what comes next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Just how to get Gadhafi to leave will be the focus of the meeting of world leaders in London today. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend.
A U.S. Airways plane is grounded while the FBI takes action. A pilot discovered a small hole in its fuselage yesterday. It has just flown from Philadelphia to Charlotte. Luckily, there were no problems on that flight. The Boeing 737 carries more than 400 passengers. The FBI and the airliner are investigating the cause of the hole.
Another car recall in the U.S. Volkswagen says it's recalling about 71,000 2011 Jettas because -- get this -- honking the horn could shut off the engine. Volkswagen says it's not aware of any accidents or injuries because of the problem, but the car shuts down when you honk, Kiran.
CHETRY: Christine, thanks.
Well, there were two very dangerous develops unfolding this morning at Japan's Daiichi nuclear power station. Tons of contaminated water needs to be pumped out of the plant so that power can be restored to the cooling systems. But the problem is, there's no place to put that water, and now highly toxic plutonium has been discovered in the soil. It's a sign that reactors at the facility may have been damaged a lot worse than first expected.
Martin Savidge, live from Tokyo, where government officials are calling the situation at the Daiichi power plant, quote, "very grave."
Digging deeper on that, what do they mean?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what they mean is they've got a real problem on their hands. And that is too much water with too much radiation in too many places all around that facility. And it's slowing down all attempts to try and turn the power back on, bring the cooling pumps back online, essentially bring all of those reactors under control because of the fact this is water that has so much radiation that it is definitely dangerous to the workers' health. We're talking about potentially giving them radiation sickness.
And so, as a result of that, they can't crawl into the spaces that they need to get to to lay the cables, to run the lines, to make the repairs. As long as they can't do that, then you're going to do that a situation that is always up and down as far as controlling those reactors. And the water now has moved so much from the basement, say, of reactor building number two to -- into the trenches or the tunnels as they refer to them, that has all the wiring and cables. And now, they believe it's dumping it into the sea.
So, surrounding and drowning to cool those reactors for two weeks now has resulted in a flood of radiation going in many places, Kiran. And then the plutonium -- that is the newest concern found in five places, three different types. They believe it came from one of the reactors, but they don't know which one -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And the difference with the plutonium is its long half-life, right? It's said to be more dangerous than some of the other radioactive components.
SAVIDGE: Right. It has a much longer half-life. We're talking about 6,500 years and then on top of that, it is far more potentially lethal if you ingest it in some way. Now, fortunately, it is very close, right in the areas of the reactors. It isn't spreading all over as far as they know.
But, we've got to say, there's only been one test that found it. It was the first test. They are doing additional testing, Kiran. CHETRY: And just a quick update. What is the plan then? Is there a plan in place to try to move this water? I mean, does TEPCO need additional help?
SAVIDGE: Well, there is a plan. TEPCO hasn't said specifically what the plan is. They keep things very close to the vest.
Here's the first thing that has to be done, is pumping water out of those places. They don't have anywhere to put it right now on property. All the containers that they would use are full of water. So, presumably, something is going to be brought in where you can pump the water offsite, but keep it within the realm of the nuclear facility. You can't sort of take it out and put it in the neighborhood, someplace to store, it's got to stay on-site.
That's the number priority right now -- find a vessel, get it on-site, fill it, drain the basements, in all the areas that need to be drained.
CHETRY: All right. Martin Savidge for us with an update from Tokyo this morning -- thanks so much.
VELSHI: Here's a great story. He's one of New York City's real heroes, a retired firefighter and a 9/11 responder. He doesn't quite, too. He goes to other places in the world in his quest to make a difference. And now, he's headed to Japan.
John Gilbert (ph) has his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN GILBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A New York firefighter doing what he's trained for. But this isn't the Big Apple. It's tsunami-stricken Japan.
And 9/11 veteran Tommy Clarke has flown here at his own expense to try and make a difference.
TOMMY CLARKE, FIREFIGHTER: Total carnage, that's what brings me here. Having been through 9/11 and Haiti, when I see it on TV, it's not an option. It's not like -- well, should I go or shouldn't I go? It's like, I'm going and how am I going to do it?
GILBERT: Tommy, who is retired on a disability pension, says he spent days struggling to be accepted here.
CLARKE: I had to beg, basically, to help. I slept at the bus station that night waiting for a cancellation the next morning and when I showed up at the Red Cross station, they couldn't believe that I had actually made it there.
GILBERT: But now, his search and rescue expertise honed in the rubble of the Twin Towers and the nightmare of Haiti is proving priceless in a disaster when more than 10,000 people are still missing.
CLARKE: It can be pretty terrifying because you don't know what you're going to find. Anything's a possibility. So it was nothing. This is my job here.
GILBERT (on camera): For some distance in the land, the tsunami left little more than match wood, but behind it in this eerie hinterland of half-destroyed homes, people are slowly struggling to reassemble their lives.
CLARKE: And it's house after house after house for miles, these poor people.
GILBERT (voice-over): There's no official figure for the number of unofficial volunteers here in Japan, but though their presence may be unorthodox, it's proving invaluable.
CLARKE: We didn't find any cadavers. We didn't find any live part- time. We were shooting for a miracle. We're not going to give up until the day we leave.
GILBERT: John Gilbert, CNN, Sendai, Northern Japan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Well, the uprising in Syria gaining some momentum. A lot of questions now about whether this regime will be able to withstand protests. We'll be joined by Zain Verjee from London.
Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The world is watching the uprising in Syria very closely this morning as government security forces crack down on protesters in the southern city of Daraa.
Zain Verjee is live in London with the latest this morning.
Zain, an already tense situation just growing more so as the hours wear on here.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, the stakes are really high with Syria. First of all, Syria is in the middle of the Middle East, both geographically and politically. It's a key player, for example, in the Arab/Israeli conflict.
It's also an important ally for Iran, an enemy of the United States. The U.S. has been trying for such a long time to kind of split that team of Syria and Iran. And they failed to do so. So, what happens to Syria is definitely going to affect the situation with Iran in the region. And if there is instability in Syria, it spills over to all of the other countries too, like Lebanon, for example, where they've been experiencing so much sectarian troubles.
You're looking at live pictures of Damascus. These are pro-government rallies. The Syrian regime is really making its point, saying we have a lot of support.
But there are many people in Syria that are very discontent with the regime. The fear they had before is gone, and they have been protesting in localized areas. So, it depends to be seen whether the anti-government protests will escalate. One of the worries is, is that you could see pro and anti-government demonstrators clashing. But this is a big show in support for the regime.
VELSHI: Let's get a sense of -- it's different in each one of these countries we've been looking at, the Middle East and North Africa. How effective is an opposition in Syria?
VERJEE: You know, experts I've spoken to, Ali, say that the opposition in this country is very fragmented. You know, they're really not that well-organized either, although they are really trying to do so, trying to use social media and trying to mobilize themselves.
You can see there were opposition -- young, unemployed guys out on the street demonstrating. Also, you have professors, journalists, intellectuals, activists -- they all constitute part of the opposition. People in exile, as well. They have some moral authority in the country.
But the key, Ali, is that when you compare like Tunisia or Egypt to Syria, this place has no civil society as sophisticated as the other countries. So, they're not developed enough where an opening can be created. So, we need to watch carefully. But that's one of the considerations we need to make.
ROMANS: Zain Verjee, thanks so much.
You can watch Zain every morning at 5:00 a.m. Eastern on "WORLD ONE," right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Thanks, Zain.
All right. Well, it's 44 minutes past the hour right now. Rob is going to be along with the travel forecast right after the break.
And we're still on cobra watch -- the adventures of the poisonous cobra in New York City. He had that busy day. You know, not only did he succeed in shutting down one of the biggest zoos in the country, he also has his own Twitter account now and he -- and they're thinking about using baby powder in the fight to find him. We'll explain why, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-seven minutes past the hour right now. Let's get a quick check of the weather headlines. Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center. Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, guys. Talking about cold weather much of the northern tier. I don't have to tell you guys that, but check out some of this video coming to us from Virginia where this kind of snowfall any time of year will lead to some traffic issues, but to get it this late in the year in Christiansburg, yes, that's pretty unusual. Not record setting here, but there were spots where it was the past couple of days, and we're going to continue to see temperatures that will be cold enough for snow.
We'll get snow that will accumulate. Just south of Chicago right now. We're looking at a little burst of snow from Peoria down to Indianapolis back through Cedar Rapids. This may pile up for 1/2 inch to an inch. That's about it. But, again, we're well into spring now. So, it shouldn't be really doing that. Across the West Coast, looking at rain and snow across from Portland and Seattle.
By the way, places like Portland haven't seen 60 degrees yet. So, if you think that your spring has been on the chilly side, it's been wet and cold across the Pacific Northwest and more snow across parts of the Colorado Rockies. Unbelievable how much the Rockies have seen, the Wasatch have seen, and the sierras. Most of all of those mountain ranges in spots have seen record-setting snowfall this year, and a lot of those ski resorts are staying open right on up until Memorial Day.
All right. If you're traveling today, over an hour delays expected in New York with some wind, Philadelphia, 30 to 60-minute delays, Ft. Lauderdale, seeing 30 to 60. The rain and thunderstorms that we saw yesterday not quite as intense today. Boy, a lot of heavy rain across parts of Florida yesterday. There were some damaging winds across parts of Georgia with that line of thunderstorms coming through, and we're going to recharge the atmosphere, I think, with this next piece of energy that's coming out of the Rockies.
All the snow that's been pounding the Rockies and the West Coast, now that energy is kind of reforming along the Gulf Coast. We're going to see thunderstorms develop today across parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi. It'll be a break, a bit of a dry break for parts of the southeast, but then, this will kind of make its way towards the north and east, and the next couple of days, it look to be on the messy side, and some folks across, you know, the Delmarva may see a little bit more in the way of snow.
It shouldn't amount to a whole lot. Forty-five degrees in New York City today, for the high temperature, you should be around 53, 54, 55 degrees. So, 10 degrees or so below average. Yes. Keep those gloves and hats handy, at least, in the early morning hours.
CHETRY: That's right. You don't want to be caught gloveless. You said it's not supposed to be doing that. Who do you tell that to, by the way?
MARCIANO: Yes, you know, I could tell that to a lot of people including Mother Nature, but as you may know --
VELSHI: She is not taking calls this morning.
MARCIANO: No. Not at all.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Thanks, Rob.
VELSHI: Bye, Rob. ROMANS: All right. The morning's top stories minutes away including President Obama defending his case for going to war in Libya saying regime change is not the goal. We'll have the response from both sides. Senator John McCain and Dick Durbin live.
VELSHI: And airport x-ray machines. All the talk about how they're an invasion of privacy, but should you worry about more than just exposing your what not? Elizabeth Cohen on what that dose of radiation is doing to you. It's 50 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back. Fifty-two minutes past the hour. We are now all following at --
VELSHI: I'm looking it up right now.
CHETRY: This is the guy that, you know, slithered out of the Bronx Zoo over the weekend caused quite a stir.
VELSHI: To be clear, this guy's a snake.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: What did you think it was --
VELSHI: It could be a rap star, I don't know.
ROMANS: No, look, seriously, there are 20,000 people following the Bronx Zoo cobra on Twitter. I think by one o'clock yesterday, he was already, like, a sensation in New York. Someone claiming to be the Bronx zoo cobra.
CHETRY: Yes. Now, they just need to find him.
VELSHI: Yes. I see it's nice how the Bronx Zoo has made this all into a joke. There is a cobra on the loose.
ROMANS: I'm not sure that's the Bronx Zoo.
CHETRY: Here's Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Send for the snake charmers, there's an escapee from the Bronx Zoo, a cobra, a young cobra, only 20 inches, thin as a pencil. The zoo's reptile house has been closed since the poisonous snake was discovered missing from its enclosure over the weekend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's closed, buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: It's closed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they got public walking through here. Wonderful. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I'm going home. It's my little precious guy here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, who do we talk to about getting my money back?
MOOS: Zoo goers walk past the reptile house that felt more like a haunted house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are worried that we're getting bad (ph) or something.
MOOS: Were you really worried?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not really.
MOOS: A cobra's bite can kill a person in 15 minutes. Still, this isn't exactly snakes on a plane. Zoo officials are confident the cobra's still inside the reptile house, but right now, they say, it's the snake's game. Our best strategy is patience.
MOOS (on-camera): At this very moment, we're told the reptile team is inside looking for the snake.
MOOS (voice-over): But officials say the reptile house contains extremely complex environments with pumps, motors, et cetera. When the snake gets hungry and thirsty, it'll come out of hiding, but this may take days or even weeks. Outside a news chopper hovered, the "New York Post" dubbed the snake "Cobradini" after the escape artist, Houdini.
There hasn't been this much excitement over a snake since a busty model was bitten by one earlier this month, and the video went viral so did the story that the snake had died from biting into toxic breast implants. Experts said no way that snakes aren't vampires. They don't suck when they bite. As for tracking down the missing Bronx Zoo cobra --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If one gets loosing and put talcum powder, they got a powder on the floor.
MOOS (on-camera): We're putting down a powder perimeter barrier so we can track the snake to see if it leaves the grounds of the zoo.
MOOS (voice-over): That'll be about as effective as trying to charm the snake out. Of course, the easiest place to find a snake was in the gift shop.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Show my mom and scare her.
MOOS: Jeannie Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: I don't know the talcum powder thing, it just reminds me of, you know, all of the post offices being shut down from the talcum powder around.
VELSHI: Pete was just telling us, our floor director, that he used lime powder that put around his place.
ROMANS: Why did you have snakes in your house?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's when I lived in Atlanta.
VELSHI: Oh, my goodness. Tell me why we think this thing is still in the building. We'll discuss that later on. I just want to know why everybody who can't find it is so sure that the snake is still in the building.
CHETRY: Follow my Twitter and you'll find out. We'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNIE DUKE, PROFESSIONAL POKER PLAYER: I'm Annie Duke. I'm a professional poker player. I spend about three months a year in Las Vegas off and on. Number one is never ever check a bag. I really bring the minimum and I make sure that everything is mix and match. Jeans are really good because, look, let's all be honest, you can wear a pair of jeans more than once.
You should commit to a pair of shoes that can look dressed up or dressed down. In what world is this not enough clothes for two days? This is the toothpaste I like and I have in my pantry at home 20 of these. I'm like 90 percent vegan. I don't eat any meat at all. I actually have a trail mix company called my mixed nuts, and I travel with mixed nuts packages because it's really good, quick energy when you literally can't find anything to eat. Are you still in?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got knocked out 25th.
DUKE: Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm Annie Duke, and I'm a road warrior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
