Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Chaos & Concern in Japan

Aired March 12, 2011 - 21:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to our viewers around the world. This is CNN's special coverage of the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. I'm Don Lemon.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm John Vause from CNN International.

It is Sunday morning in Sendai, Japan. That's a city of 1 million people, near of the epicenter of that massive quake, a city devastated by a huge wall of water that crashed in from the coast and the danger is far from over.

At this hour, we're tracking a new and extremely serious concern.

LEMON: We certainly are.

Top Japanese nuclear officials say there is a possibility, a possibility that there could be a meltdown at one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Japan's ambassador to the U.S. meantime tells our Wolf Blitzer he has no evidence that a meltdown is under way.

An estimated 80,000 people live within 10 kilometers of the plant. That's about six miles. All of them have been evacuated.

Another 180,000 people live up to 20 kilometers from the plant. They're being moved away from the area today.

And there are fears radioactive material could be released even as rescuers are still scrambling to find thousands of people still missing in this catastrophe.

VAUSE: The official death toll in Japan stands at 689. But we know that will go much higher. We don't know how many people are missing. The official number stands at 639.

But one coastal town reports half its population, about 9,500 people, remain unaccounted for. More than 1,500 people -- at least 1,500 people have been injured, and at least 3,000 people have been rescued.

LEMON: And we want to get straight to the ground now, our correspondents on the ground in Japan now.

And we begin with Kyung Lah. She is in Sendai, Japan.

Kyung, what are you seeing? KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sorry. I have to get out of the way, because this is really one of the only roads in and out of this particular community.

This community, Nishiosaki (ph), it's a residential area and it's a couple of miles inland from the ocean, from the sea. And what we can show you is how far the tsunami pushed in.

We're just really starting to understand how powerful this tsunami was, as we look at cars that were just tossed on their side, covered in debris. The water level, from what we've seen of the houses, is above my head. So, it was extraordinarily high, it was extraordinarily strong, and the water remains.

We're about a day and a half after this earthquake and tsunami struck. The community is still digging out here.

I want to walk you over this way. This car arrived after the tsunami, so that's why it's unscathed. But this house is damaged.

And if you look further that way, this gives you an idea -- this particular picture should really tell you just how powerful the water and the force of the debris was. It put this car on top of another car. And what we're seeing is snapshots like this everywhere as we drive around Sendai.

What we're also seeing around this city, long lines of people trying to get bottles of water. A lot of mothers carrying their children, a lot of elderly people waiting in line. There are very few food rations here. Everywhere is sold out.

We did see one store starting to come back online today, and it had a very, very long line. There are about three blocks long lines of people just trying to get some sort of dry food so they can continue to eat and stay warm.

A lot of buildings inside have been turned into shelters. Schools, fire houses, hospitals have all been turned into shelters.

And I do want to mention one other thing. Nearby, we understand that there are still people trapped inside a hospital. Rescuers have not been able to pluck everyone out of there. Those people generally are believed to be fine, because they're in a building, they're in a structure, there's no food or water there, but they're believed to be fine.

But there are still active rescues going on all over this city.

VAUSE: And, Kyung, it's John. Have you had a chance to speak with any of the people in that town? And if so, what are they telling you?

LAH: Very briefly, as we're trying to drive through different areas and talk to people, as we're rolling and on the go. And what a lot of the people have been telling us is that they're still just trying to figure out what happened to them. Many people here are shell shocked. You have a very similar look among all the people who are here. And they also are trying to reach their family members.

At the place that we rested last night, the person who checked us in, he said he still hasn't been able to reach his family. But he's working, trying to create some semblance of normalcy as he tries to figure out what to do next.

LEMON: And, Kyung, there have been thousands of buildings complete destroyed, and, of course, that includes home. Where are these people staying? Are they staying in shelters? What are they doing?

LAH: A lot of people in this community are staying in buildings that are just down the street.

If I can show you a scene that we're seeing over and over again, on this main road that's going in and out of this community is this -- it looks like there are some residents who are approaching. They're trying to assess the damage. They're also being led by some officials who are telling them where it's safe to go, where it's not safe to go.

We're seeing a lot of military people coming in and out. We just saw a couple of firefighters carrying axes and shovels, because they're trying to help dig people out.

So, we have a couple of different things happening here -- people digging out, people trying to clear the roadways, but also active rescues going on.

The military says they did pull out a body today and they are still searching for 300 people in this community.

VAUSE: And, Kyung, the Red Cross -- the International Red Cross told me a little earlier that the main hospital in Sendai is still san standing, but the bodies are starting to pile up. A lot of people are being brought in there, being treated for wounds or injury, similar to drowning.

And as those people go by, I'm just curious if you know anymore about the situation at the main hospital, and maybe did those people tell you anything as they went by.

LAH: We haven't been able to check in on exactly what's happening with the hospitals. We just know that at one of the hospitals, there are people that are still stuck in the hospital because it's completely surrounded by water.

So, at this point, I just don't have very much information about that.

VAUSE: Sure.

LEMON: Hey, Kyung, real quick, those people -- where are they going? Are they going to look for food, water? What are they doing now?

LAH: What I can tell you is that what we're seeing and, you know, we haven't had a lot of time on the ground here to talk to everybody, but residents are basically walking back and forth on this street, they're heading in to check on their homes. People who did evacuate and got out with their families, they're going back to check on their houses. But they can't stay here. They have to go back out to this area and check to make sure that they have water and food and a safe and warm place to stay, because clearly, there's no electricity here and it's not safe to stay in any of these structures.

LEMON: All right. Our Kyung Lah in Sendai -- thank you very much for that, Kyung.

VAUSE: Let's go now to Gary Tuchman. He's in the north part of the country. He's in a car. He's heading east from Shonai to Matshushima.

Gary, you're on the line. What's the situation where you are? We've heard the highways have been very crammed for some time now. But what's the latest that you've got?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, John and Don, we are on a journey right now through snowy mountain roads here in northern Japan, going from the west coast which is on the sea of Japan to the east coast, where the Pacific Ocean is -- trying to get a lay of the land, see how extensive the damage is.

And, right now, just in the middle of northern Japan, as we're driving east, we see very few cars on the road and we see almost no businesses open. The gas stations are closed, the stores are closed. If you're here looking for provisions, this is not a good place to be right now.

We felt two hours ago an aftershock in the town of Shonai, which obviously that's not where it was centered. It was centered closer to Sendai. But we were 100 miles away, it still felt very strong.

And people were quite frightened. And even though they're used to getting small earthquakes in Japan, this is a country that builds their infrastructure very well because of the threat of infrastructures, they've never in recorded history ever had one this strong. And therefore, there is a lot of fear that maybe another big one is coming.

As a matter of fact, John, last night, when I was in Tokyo on the 11th floor of a hotel -- you know, we were in Haiti, spent so much time there, went through so many aftershocks, and you were there, too, but they don't have tall buildings in Port-au-Prince. And where, when you're on a tall building, when you feel an aftershock rumbling through, it's particularly scary.

And that is -- no question about it -- the mental attitude of a lot of Japanese, even people who haven't lost loved ones, who have loved ones missing, and certainly, that's horrible that there are still people missing and so many people who died, but people who haven't lost anybody are nevertheless quite scared because of the historic nature of this.

So, right now, we're continuing our journey to the east coast of this country, trying to see the damage. So far, there isn't much damage as you go west. But there is a situation now where you have gas stations and stores that are closed and we don't know when they'll be reopening.

LEMON: And, Gary, that sort of leads me to my next question, because many times it's days, sometimes, before we see the damage, especially for places that are not located near city centers or where there's lots of media. You're not seeing, you said, a lot of damage as you go further west -- but it's going to take some time for them to assess just how much damage there is and where all of it is.

TUCHMAN: And that's a really interesting thing, Don. I mean, I think, you know, when we cover news stories, we're used to finding out in most cases, right away, what's going on. And here, you have to explore. You know, it's like an expedition we go on, and we go town to town and see what we see. I think it's a good sign that right now this far west of the east coast where the worst damage was in Japan, we don't see any damage. And that's a good sign right now.

Nevertheless, this is a small nation. I mean, it's an island nation. Everyone is feeling the aftershocks. And there's this collective, you know, psychological fear in this country that, you know, another big one may still be coming.

I mean, it's very unusual, and we stress this to people, that you very rarely in recorded history have an aftershock stronger than the initial earthquake, and that's good news. But this was an --

LEMON: Our Gary Tuchman is on the road, obviously having a little bit of issues there, which is understandable.

VAUSE: Yes.

LEMON: And as we were looking at the pictures that -- as he was talking, just imagine the devastation. Our thanks to Gary Tuchman.

TUCHMAN: And let's go a news conference, which is underway right now, our affiliate NHK is carrying this, which is about the ongoing situation at that nuclear facility which could be close to meltdown. Let's listen in.

YUKIO EDANO, JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY (through translator): And probably, this has affected the reading of the measurement. Just like the readings we gave you yesterday, it is a temporary reading and we do not see that this will affect human health immediately. Depending on which way the wind blows, the figures may change and fluctuate.

We are working on that assumption. If we do see a further higher rise in the figures and if we do see higher figures in certain places, that may cause alert. However, we will continue to monitor the situation. And as of after 8:33, we see that the figure is going down and we are continuing to see a decrease in the readings. Therefore, we believe that it is not a harmful level to human health.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): But yesterday after reactor number one, and after the -- between the reading you got for reactor number three, why do you see the venting from reactor number one affecting the reactor number three venting?

EDANO: Well, venting is continuing and reactor number one -- of course, we are continuing to inject seawater, but the venting activity from reactor number one is continuing and the air coming out does include some radioactive substances. And also, we are doing the same operation with reactor number three. So, depending on the wind direction, we may see some fluctuation in the radiation level readings.

So, we assume that we will see further fluctuation in the measurement. However, if we see a continuation of the rise --

LEMON: And you are watching a live update there in Japan regarding the threat, really, of radiation.

VAUSE: Yes.

LEMON: And what is already occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, talking about two different reactors there, and giving us an update on the reading, saying at least they're going down for now.

VAUSE: Yes, because at one time, there was a report that the radiation levels were 1,000 times higher than normal in the control room and elsewhere, which is the amount of radiation that you should receive in an entire year, and people were receiving that in a day. But still they are saying it was still safe. There was no immediate threat, to any harm to anybody at this point.

LEMON: And they're still venting, he said, pumping seawater into it, and also doing the iodine, which will be helpful.

VAUSE: Yes.

LEMON: So, hopefully, things continue to get better there.

You know, we're approaching the noon hour on Sunday in Japan and as that news conference just showed us, all eyes are on two nuclear power plants, John.

VAUSE: We'll have the latest on that situation and what can be done about it straight from a guy who knows, Bill Nye the Science Guy -- he'll join us in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the devastation in Japan. And what's happening at Japan's Daiichi facility is considered the third worst nuclear event on record at this point.

VAUSE: Yes, at this point. It's still not clear if a meltdown is underway, what exactly does a meltdown mean, and how do nuclear reactors work.

Chad Myers is here helping to explain all of this. And, Chad, when we think of meltdown, we think of Three Mile Island.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right.

VAUSE: We think of Chernobyl. Is that what we're looking at here?

MYERS: Possibility.

VAUSE: Yes.

MYERS: Although the officials there are saying this is not happening. This is full of seawater and boric acid. We are keeping it cool and it is below critical. It is sub-critical, not melting.

Meltdown means the melting of the core of a nuclear reactor, and literally, after that, a large displacement of radiation throughout the entire atmosphere, somewhere.

How does it work? It works by a series of closed systems.

This -- when you're sitting in your car and you have the heater on in your car, you're not warmed because the fluid that's in your radiator is spraying on you, that would be an open system, because you're spraying hot stuff on you. You are warmed in your car because there's a small little radiator under your dash, it's blowing a fan through that radiator and that radiator is warming the air and you're being warmed by that air.

If all of these closed systems work in a nuclear reactor, nothing goes wrong. Here you go, the water comes in, it cools down this, this is part of a turbine, the turbine is turning -- whether it's a coal-fired plant or not. The coal-fired plant warms water, water turns the steam, steam turns the turbine. You turn this down, you cool it off, you pump it back through here, and you cool down the reactor.

Now, rather than burning coal and warming the steam, you're -- well, you've got a reactor core and you have control rods and you have pods here warming with uranium inside a nuclear reactor. That -- those rods are warming water to warm water to warm steam to warm a turbine and this goes on and on and on.

And as long as all these processes are working, everything works great. The problem is that it didn't work right, because when the earthquake happened, power got shut off. This was generating its own power.

The power shut off and then the backups came in. The backups were little generators, literally, and then they got flooded by the tsunami. Then they had to go to backup power by batteries. Well, the batteries were only supposed to last for eight hours. Put more batteries in, it's going and going and going, they couldn't get it cool down.

Now, they've finally flood it with seawater and boric acid, hoping this is the final step. They have killed this reactor. This will never come back online, but that's the only thing at this point that they can get this cooled down. Let's hope it works.

VAUSE: OK.

LEMON: Right.

Let's go to our science guy, Bill Nye now to get more information on this.

Bill, I want to read something to you. This is a report from earlier today. They said Japanese safety officials and international experts said because of crucial design differences, the release of radiation in the Fukushima plant would likely be much smaller than a Chernobyl because of the design difference, even if it suffered a complete meltdown.

Why is that?

BILL NYE, "THE SCIENCE GUY": Well, there's two containment vessels. But the critical thing to me is we saw the cloud that looked like a mixture of dust and steam in the explosion. People there -- seem to be reliable reports have cesium in the air.

Now, this Chad made reference to control rods. Well, there are certain elements that when you get them close enough together, certain isotopes, certain number of neutrons, they start to get hot. That's uranium. Uranium, especially this one called uranium 235, it gets hot. Well, then there's other elements that absorb neutrons, that soak them up --

LEMON: Hey, Bill, stand by, Bill. I hate to interrupt you. We have some breaking news here.

NYE: Yes.

LEMON: John, go ahead.

VAUSE: Yes, Kyung Lah -- sorry, Bill. Kyung Lah is saying there is a rescue underway right now in Sendai, the closest city to this epicenter.

Kyung, what have you got?

LAH: Well, John, remember, this is still an active rescue operation. There are a few hundred people missing in this community, and this is just one of the many rescues that are happening in this residential area.

I'm standing in a small residential area, and what we're looking at it's -- forgive me, but it's really hard for me to see exactly what type of helicopter that is. But there's a helicopter and what we're seeing and you're looking at are people being dropped in and out and pulled out of houses.

There are many people here who are completely cut off. They are surrounded by debris. They are injured. They are surrounded by water. And the only way to get to them -- because you can see how much mud and space separates where we are, which is a road and that building -- is by chopper. And, so, choppers, you can hear them all over this region. There are choppers dropping in water, dropping in food, and dropping in medical supplies.

There are many people who are injured here, but they simply can't get an easy way out, because they can't walk out. They can't trudge through the debris or the mud. We are seeing a lot of people on foot, walking around here on this one road that we're on. But, you know, again, this is still an active rescue operation, a hundred -- a few hundred people missing here, but, you know, as we were talking about earlier, a little north of where we are, there are thousands of people missing.

So, still a very fluid situation as we're waiting for rescue helicopters, more rescue helicopters to arrive and try to assess exactly how many people we're talking about who are dead and injured in this region.

VAUSE: Kyung, as we watch what's happening right now, is that pretty much the only way these rescues are being carried out right now, is by helicopter? Because I remember one aid worker said what they need right now is about a fleet of 1,000 helicopters there.

LAH: Helicopter is simply the most effective and limber way to get to people here. It is extraordinarily difficult to get around anywhere in Japan right now, especially if you are traveling for the most populist city, Tokyo, back to this -- up to this region. So, choppers are just the best way to get around, especially in any place where the roads are cut off and it's so muddy.

And so, that's why you're hearing the call for so many choppers to get to this region as quickly as possible.

LEMON: And, Kyung, as we watch this -- continue to watch this, I want to just tell our viewers, if you're just tuning in, you're watching a live rescue in Sendai, Japan, and our reporter is there on group. The left -- what you're seeing on the left was, just moments ago, as a matter of fact, this is the actual bringing of the person up in the basket. It's kind of hard to see, the camera's far away, but they are zooming in there.

And, Kyung, you know, you and John were talking about how difficult it is, and they need many more of these rescue choppers in order to be able to help people. The conditions on the ground, going door to door, we have seen that in these disasters, but I would imagine, with so much water and so much debris, that is almost impossible in most cases.

LAH: Almost impossible. And what we are seeing are 4 x 4 vehicles that are able to get through and heavy machinery trying to get through. And what you're seeing here, yet another chopper, since we're talking about this right now, that appears to be a military helicopter. A lot of military helicopters up in the air are trying to, again, get to some of the people who are trapped in their homes. One of the big rescues via helicopter in this region is one of the hospitals here. There are many people stuck in that hospital. The hope is that they're going to be able to pull all those people out.

But, you know, there are only so many people that you can fit in a helicopter. We can hear another one coming through. There are only so many people you can fit in a helicopter, so it is time consuming and it does take a long time.

LEMON: All right. Kyung Lah on the ground, thank you very much. Kyung, stand by. I'm sure we'll be getting back to you. And hang on one second. Kyung, are you -- Kyung is speaking to someone. Let's listen in.

LAH: Well, I was trying to grab people, a lot of people here are still shell shocked and you know, Japanese people tend to be very shy and difficult to interview anyway, especially in a time of crisis. But we are trying to get to people, try to understand exactly how they're feeling and, you know --

VAUSE: Absolutely.

LAH: -- as they try to put the pieces together. And again, move forward in this emergency.

VAUSE: Yes, Kyung is a doing a fabulous job. You have no idea how difficult it is to work in a situation like that.

So, Kyung, we thank you and we hope to hear from you in the hours to come as this rescue continues.

We now want to speak to somebody who is still in Sendai, Japan. Her name is Yasue Schumaker. And she is in this city right now.

Can you tell us exactly what your current circumstances are, how are you coping, and why are you there?

YASUE SCHUMAKER, CALLING FROM SENDAI, JAPAN (via telephone): I'm visiting my mother who is ill from Hawaii and I happen to be here in the earthquake.

LEMON: And how did you fare and how did your mother fare? Do you know about a home, the facility where you live, the place where you live? Is it OK?

SCHUMAKER: We are away from our home when it happened, and we are in a secure building. So, I'm staying in a building.

We don't know what's happening to my -- to our -- the house she lives in by herself. We don't have any way to be at the house. We were in a car and it happened.

LEMON: What happened when you were in the car? Describe to us.

SCHUMAKER: We felt a shake and it's long and steady, big shake we never had experienced. So, I was lucky that I already had stopped the car and I felt it and we turned the engine off and then people -- I see the people coming out from the building to be safe, because building might be collapsed. And it felt like two minutes, constantly, shaking. It was scary.

VAUSE: And there are reports of many casualties in Sendai, many people who have died there. Have you -- have you seen many bodies? Have you seen many injured people?

SCHUMAKER: No, actually, not. Since then, we are in a big building, because we feel secure. And we don't have courage to go outside. But I don't -- it looks like -- but we can see the fire, that's smoke coming out from the building, far away from here. We are in downtown Sendai, and I don't se any buildings where (INAUDIBLE) or people got hurt. But I -- yes?

VAUSE: I was going to ask about the situation with aftershocks. Have you felt many powerful aftershocks since the initial earthquake?

SCHUMAKER: Yes, many, many of them, many of them -- many aftershocks. The day it happened, it's constantly aftershock. And last two nights was better, but still, we are having quite a big one.

LEMON: Yasue, I wanted to ask you this, you said you're in a secure building, which is probably a multi-level building. Are people just going in and inhabiting those buildings because they have nowhere else to go? And if so, are they being welcomed and are they allowing them to do that?

SCHUMAKER: No. I heard that one of the people was telling that evacuating place, those evacuating place, mostly like gymnastics or elementary school or other school facilities. And it is very cold.

I don't think they have enough food, water. But some people staying in their car, because we still feel aftershocks, they prefer to stay in the car. It's really cold. No heater, of course.

But they prefer stay in the car, and gymnastics, which in evacuating places, very, very cold. I don't think they have enough blanket or anything.

VAUSE: Do you have any idea when the authorities will reach you, when the situation will improve, when electricity will be returned to the city? When it will be restored? Have they been telling you anything?

SCHUMAKER: Watching -- no -- watching the news, probably you have more idea what's going on, information, than us here because you can watch the news on TV.

LEMON: Yes, because there's millions there without electricity. Hey, listen --

SCHUMAKER: We don't have much information. Yes?

LEMON: I want to ask you this, what do you want people -- you know, we're broadcasting around the world. What would you like people to know about what you're dealing with and what the people of Japan are going through?

SCHUMAKER: I think -- well, watching -- I want to say food and water, but after I saw the people who got lost their homes or the people who still needing help, I -- I think most of them, they are the ones who need help. So, somehow we can hang in there and hope.

We need -- we don't have any electric, water, gas, and the city just announced it can take 30 days to get gas for everybody. But we definitely need water and food.

But please help the people who lost their homes and still people -- I saw on the news, still people on top of the building asking for help. We need foreign countries' help.

I don't -- I didn't see much news -- I don't know what the prime minister says. I hope they ask, officially ask for help to every countries. And we are in an emergency. And please help us.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. Yasue Schumaker, best of luck to you and good luck to your mom. We hope you guys are okay and get the help you need soon. And, again, we appreciate you joining us.

SCHUMAKER: Thank you.

LEMON: And 49 countries, as we know, are stepping up to help here. And we're going to talk -- we're going to talk about that a little bit later.

But it breaks your heart, John, doesn't it?

VAUSE: I mean, that was one of the most emotional cries for help I've heard since this has happened. Obviously, these people are desperate. They have no food. They have no water. They have no sanitation.

And when you looked at that video there, of Sendai, it's obviously -- it's a desperate situation.

LEMON: And then on top of that, the threat of exposure to radiation just adds another level to it. So, we'll continue on with that with our Chad Myers and we'll get Bill Nye back here in just a little bit. We had to interrupt that.

But, you know, it has been daylight for a few hours now and the desperate search is on for survivors, as you have heard. We are going the live to some of our team members who are on the ground, John.

VAUSE: Yes. And if you are looking for someone, stay with us, because we may something that might help you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. I'd like to welcome our viewers from around the world. You are watching CNN's special coverage of the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.

VAUSE: Yes. Hello. I'm John Vause. There's a very serious situation happening at this hour. Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant -- a top Japanese nuclear official says there is a possibility -- a possibility -- that there could be a meltdown at one of the reactors. We should note, however, that Japan's ambassador to the U.S. has told our Wolf Blitzer that he has no evidence that a meltdown is under way.

But what's happening on the ground is very real. An estimated 80,000 people live within 10 kilometers of the plant -- that's about six miles -- all of them have been evacuated. Another 180,000 people live up to 20 kilometers from the plant, they're being moved away from the area.

LEMON: And, John, you know, the official death toll right now in Japan stands at 689, but we know that that is going to climb much higher. The official number of missing is now 639. And we know that number will get higher as well.

But one coastal town reports half of its population -- about 9,500 people -- are unaccounted for. More than 1,500 people have been injured. And at least 3,000 people have been rescued.

And the terror in Japan has now given way to hope, John. Families are praying that they can reunite.

VAUSE: CNN affiliate NHK has some of the sights and sounds from this disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SIREN WAILING)

ANNOUNCER: Anyone near the coast must evacuate to higher ground immediately.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: At 3:00 p.m. Friday afternoon, Kamaishi city hall issued its tsunami warning. Residents quickly evacuated their homes, looking for higher ground.

These people managed to get to this hilltop. Mothers held on tightly to their children. They listened anxiously to the radio for more information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Water is flowing into the port. It is now flowing over the barriers into the community.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: At 3:11, a massive tsunami swept through the city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The images coming really out of Japan, they're really just amazing.

We have some news that's just into CNN. We talked about the countries who are sending in help, rescue and aid as well. VAUSE: OK. Yes. Some news coming to us from the Xinhua News Agency, which is the state news agency of China, the Chinese are sending a 15- man search and rescue team. They left China about two hours ago. They'll be touching down in Tokyo about two hours time. They have experience there, of course, because they were dealing with the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.

We must remember back then, the Japanese also sent aid workers to China to help with that earthquake as well. So, now, China, which has a rivalry, not on the best of terms in recent times with the Japanese, now reaching out to help.

LEMON: And this is important. Four tons of material and equipment for search and rescue, as well as power supply, because as you know --

VAUSE: Yes.

LEMON: -- there's no power, and telecommunications services.

So, as we talk about this, why don't we join our correspondents who are on the ground now and talk about the information that's coming in now? OK, we'll do that. We'll get to our Gary Tuchman, who is traveling in Japan, in just a bit. But we're going to move on.

VAUSE: Yes. For the last four hours, we've been hearing about a nuclear meltdown which could be underway.

LEMON: So, what does that mean? That's the question. Who's in danger? How can this be stopped? We'll bring back our Bill Nye.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: And welcome back. We're continuing to monitor a news conference, which is currently in progress in Japan. This official talking about the ongoing crisis at one of the nuclear power plants there.

Is the core close to a meltdown? There's been conflicting reports all day long. So, we will continue to listen to what this official has to say.

Earlier, he did say that there has been an increase in radiation, but it has been coming down and that it's at levels which are not harmful, immediately, to anybody nearby.

LEMON: Yes, and they are using seawater to try to cool that, to try to bring the temperature down. Perfect time to bring in the science guy, Bill Nye.

Bill, sorry, we interrupted you just minutes ago. You were talking, I believe, about cesium. Tell us what that means. What is cesium?

NYE: Cesium is a metal that absorbs neutrons. And since the early days of chain reactions, people have found that by putting in rods of cesium, they can slow down the reaction in -- the fission, the reaction in a nuclear reactor. It works great. However, it sounds like if there really is cesium in the atmosphere, in the air near this plant, in general, the only way for that cesium to get in the air is if the thing has melted and boiled or decomposed the control rods, the cesium rods and the uranium and the containment vessel, which is steel and concrete and all that stuff's in the air.

Now, that's very, very serious. That's on the road to the science fiction meltdown --

LEMON: Yes.

NYE: -- where the thing -- the uranium, which is a metal, a heavy metal, turns to a liquid and continues to fission until the whole thing spreads out enough to cool off. I mean, that is a mess.

VAUSE: And, Bill, when we look at what they're doing right now, pumping seawater to try to cool this all down, someone described that to me as being like a Hail Mary pass. This is not in the manual of how to cool down a nuclear reactor. That just shows how desperate the situation is.

NYE: Oh, yes, it really does. Taking seawater -- seawater's, of course, loaded with chemicals, and you're going to create steam, and that steam is going to carry radioactive material all over the place. But the alternative is everybody standing around not doing anything to cool it off. So, I guess, this is -- if you have nothing else left, this is the best thing to do.

But it shows, again, how very hot these things get in order to be financially or economical to build. And then when things go wrong, things go very, very wrong.

LEMON: Give us a worst-case scenario here, people who might have some exposure -- not that this is going to happen, because they say only three workers. That's what the official reports say only three workers and they've evacuated everyone in the area, about 80,000 people.

But what's the worst-case scenario? What does it do to the environment? What does it do to a person's body?

NYE: Oh, when you get radiation poisoning, it affects your body chemistry and you get sick. My understanding is first you get sick to your stomach and then -- you die. But the long-term effects of cancer and so on can go on for many decades.

So, this area will probably be shut down and quarantined in the manner of Chernobyl for a long time to come, many, many years. And then you don't have your electrical production, and then, of course, it asks the reputation or the financial quality -- the ability to finance other nuclear plants all around the world, and everyone's going to question the design of the plant, they're going to go on and on about what went wrong.

And in general, when something this bad happens, it's not one thing -- it's a series of things. This valve didn't open when it should have, these batteries ran down before they should have, they got seawater in them -- it's usually a series of things. And, of course, engineers, and I'm an engineer, we try to anticipate these things. But, apparently, you can't get it all.

VAUSE: I'm just curious, Bill, because when we look at the history of nuclear disasters on the planet, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, they all got worse before they got better. And the situation did get out of control. And I don't know -- I just have this feeling that that's the way this is heading.

NYE: Well, I know. And the guy, the spokesman, I imagine, is guarding -- is choosing his words very carefully. To say the radiation has gone down, the levels have gone down -- I mean, I imagine as soon as you have an explosion, the radiation would go very high. Then as it spreads out in the air and out to sea, the radiation locally will go down. But still, there's a lot of radiation being released.

I wonder if space-based so-called assets or satellites couldn't be repositioned, use their maneuvering fuel, to get over this area and look down and see what is actually in the air. I'm not certain how difficult that is. And you can't do it immediately, but --

LEMON: And, Bill --

NYE: But these claims are extraordinary.

LEMON: Bill, I want to let our meteorologist here get in on this.

Chad Myers, does the weather play a factor in this?

MYERS: No, not really. The water getting into --

LEMON: Not the wind. That has nothing to do with it?

MYERS: No, I mean, the cold temperatures at night will affect the rescues, will affect the people that are out there waiting to be rescued.

Bill, I want to kind of run this by you, because this is kind of what I was hearing from the officials there. That there was melting, but not a meltdown, and that's how this cesium got in the atmosphere. Buy it or not?

NYE: Well, I don't know -- it would be right in the details.

MYERS: Yes.

NYE: Was there a hole in the inner vessel? Was there a hole in the outer vessel and just the tips of a few rods got very, very hot?

And can they sublime? Can they change from a solid to a gas at these kinds of pressures? And that would account for a little bit of cesium in the air. That's possible. I am open-minded. But I saw -- we all saw what looked like a big cloud of steam and dust and that sounds like an explosion. That sounds like a rupture of both vessels.

MYERS: They called that a hydrogen explosion by the venting of the hydrogen into a secondary building. I didn't see that.

NYE: Well, the secondary building, I think, is the outer containment vessel --

MYERS: Right.

NYE: -- which is akin to a double-hulled ship. But it's still extraordinary to get that stuff in the air and the word "hydrogen," water is full of hydrogen, is that the source of it?

Now, in conventional fission, in a conventional reactor, the -- one of the waste products is helium. Now, was helium mistranslated from hydrogen?

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: We'd love to hear you guys talk about this. Unfortunately, we have a lot of news to cover.

Bill, stand by. Chad --

NYE: It shows how technical and difficult it is.

LEMON: Yes.

VAUSE: Absolutely.

NYE: It's a complicated thing. It's a high-tech way to make electricity, and when things go wrong, they go really wrong.

LEMON: Thank you both so much.

And when we heard earlier, the report that just in: China sending a rescue team, 49 countries are stepping up to lend a hand to Japan.

VAUSE: Take a look at the map. After a short break, we'll tell you who's helping, when they're going, and what you can do.

So, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Forty-nine countries have stepped up and offering relief to Japan, including the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, China, Spain, Germany, and France -- all the countries here in yellow.

LEMON: And, John, the first wave of aid from the U.S. arrived in Japan on Saturday. More equipment, staffers, and search and rescue crews from Virginia and California are expected to arrive on Sunday. VAUSE: China is also sending equipment, military personnel, and medicine. Its Red Cross has pledged $150,000. Britain and Australia are sending search and rescue teams as well.

LEMON: And also, John, headed to Japan is Dr. Hidenori Ikuhara. He's also heading to Japan and we're going to bring him in.

VAUSE: He's part of this international Medical Corps. And he joins us now from Los Angeles.

Doctor, you've been to these kinds of earthquake disasters before, but this time you're heading into a disaster that could have a cloud of radioactive over the top of it. How do you prepare for that?

DR. HIDENORI IKUHARA, INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: Well, this is obviously a situation that very few people have ever experienced. We're dealing with an historic earthquake that had not been seen in people's memories, followed by a tsunami back to back and now you add this third factor of an unknown threat of something that we've always feared in the back of our minds -- but to actually consider it a possibility that these things can affect us in real time today, it really -- it really is a lot for our brains to wrap around, I think.

LEMON: And, Doctor, do you know when you're leaving and where you're headed to?

IKUHARA: Yes, I'm with a humanitarian organization that's been around for over 20, 25 years. And International Medical Corps has -- part of their mission is to go respond immediately to catastrophes and disasters of a large magnitude anywhere around the world. I think, Japan -- what happened there certainly -- qualifies in this regards.

And I'm fortunate to be part of a team. I'm just one individual and very limited in terms of what I can do. However, a group of well- motivated and highly experienced individuals, people who have had many, many experiences in tragedy-filled areas in the past, I think, that I will have an opportunity to render whatever assistance I can, but also benefit from their expertise as well. So --

VAUSE: And, Doctor, I'm told that you were born in Japan. So, obviously, this has a special significance for you going there. Do you still have family there? And I guess you have a special connection with Japan, obviously?

IKUHARA: Yes, sir. Absolutely.

I've had the privilege of going to Haiti a few weeks after the terrible earthquake that occurred last year and I also felt at that time, that, you know, by the grace of God, that can have happened to me or to anyone here in our country.

But I think that this time, given the cultural similarities and the cultural connection that I have to what happened in Japan, it will certainly add a different dimension to my efforts there. And I like to use that as extra motivations. I don't really need it, but just to be extremely sensitive to the needs of the people there -- and to remember that they're the ones that are hurting and I'm just one small factor in trying to bring whatever assistance to improve the situation.

VAUSE: OK. Dr. Hidenori Ikuhara, thank you so much and good luck.

IKUHARA: Thank you very much.

LEMON: Yes, it's going to be very difficult. As you said, there's added -- added threat of radiation on top of all of this.