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Japanese Death Toll Tops 1,500; More Violent Protests in Bahrain; Protests and Tear Gas Fired in Yemen

Aired March 13, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: More than 3,000 people have been rescued in Japan so far. Numerous U.S. rescue and assistance teams have actually arrived in Japan today.

Japan's prime minister says this is his country's worst crisis since World War II.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAOTO KAN, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Please, I ask each one of you, please have such determination and to deepen your bond with family members, neighbors, people in your community to overcome this crisis, so that Japan can be a better place. We can build together. This is the message I'd like to emphasize to the Japanese people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A 60-year-old man, tsunami victim, survived two days at sea and today, a ship actually rescued him. The crew spotted him clinging to part of a roof and waving a homemade red flag. His wife was swept away in the tsunami.

And in other top stories, witnesses say security forces fired guns and tear gas at protesters in Yemen's capital. They were gathered outside Sana'a University. At least 10 people were wounded. 100 others sickened by the tear gas. Protesters are angry over high unemployment and what they see as government corruption and a lack of political freedom.

In Bahrain, more violent anti-government protests. Police fired tear gas at one of several demonstrations in the kingdom's capital. In another protest, several people were hurt at Bahrain University when supporters of the royal family faced off with student protesters. Bahrain's government denies that any unjustified force was used against the protesters.

And forces loyal to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi are back in control of Al Brega. Libyan state television reports the troops retook the town after days of fighting but opposition leaders tell CNN their forces left on their own, calling it a "tactical retreat."

And here in the U.S., police are searching for a suspect who opened fire on a teen party at a New Orleans restaurant. An 18-year-old died at the scene. Four other teens were wounded. The motive for the shooting is still unclear.

A homecoming this weekend in Wisconsin for 14 Democratic senators who fled the state to block a vote on a bill cutting public workers' union rights. The Republican-controlled Senate passed the controversial bill last week without the Democrats by taking out its spending provision. The Democrats were greeted by cheering crowds at the state capitol and vowed on to fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DAVE HENSON, WISCONSIN STATE DEMOCRAT: People think that this was a picnic for us, they're wrong. But I tell you something, we did it for the right reasons and the fight will continue. It does not end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We gave them hope. But they gave us inspiration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Republicans say the bill makes cuts need to battle the budget.

Now back to Japan. The Japanese are scrambling to prevent a possible nuclear meltdown. Two nuclear plants have released radiation beyond normal levels since the earthquake and tsunami hit.

James Walsh is a CNN contributor and an international security expert. Good to see you again, Jim. So how concerned are you about what we are learning from the Japanese government and these nuclear plants?

JAMES WALSH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I am concerned. You would - it would be silly not to be concerned because we are at a place that no one expected us to be. Now, I do think we are going to have a full- blown meltdown? I think that is more unlikely than likely but I'm starting to get a little concerned, Fredricka, that the problems are multiplying.

First, it was one reactor, then it was another reactor, then it was reactors at a second site and then today a warning, a low-level warning but a warning was issued about a reactor at a third site. You wonder about Japan's ability, when people are working 24 hours a day, in crisis mode, day after day about how many crises they can handle at one time, you know, on and on and on.

So, I'm a little concerned about that but I still think at the end of the day, we are going to be able to minimize and contain, literally and otherwise, contain these problems, at least that's what I'm hoping.

WHITFIELD: Is it part of your concern, too, that the Japanese government doesn't want to reveal everything about what they are dealing with?

WALSH: You know, I think the track record here has not been great. You know, and I have a lot of - I have tremendous sympathy for the Japanese people. I have a lot of friends in Japan. We have a lot of Japanese at MIT who are close colleagues. And the government has a tough situation because events change and it's hard to keep up, but you know, there's a history here and it always hasn't been a good history of being forthcoming and revealing. And my concern is when the government doesn't get ahead of the story, it doesn't look like it is being forthcoming, then people start to speculate and they begin to lose confidence and the government loses credibility. They are going to need that going forward. There's a lot of work left, Fredricka, in the months, years come, they're going to need to maintain that credibility.

WHITFIELD: Now, I wonder if there is a relationship between that, the kind of reticence and that kind of caution about revealing too much and the fact that the economy of Japan has been hurting many, many years. I wonder if the Japanese government might feel a little concerned about what's ahead in terms of these giant financial losses, not only because of the people, the manufacturing abilities but also the shutting down of these two plants costing them billions?

WALSH: Oh, absolutely. You know, when you step back and think about this, obviously, the worse consequence here has been the loss of human life and the destruction. Bar none that's the worst. But over the long-term, Fredricka, I think you are right, one of the first to raise the question about economic consequences. Japan was only coming out of a last decade or two of slow economic growth. It was just picking up.

It has huge debt. People talk about the debt in the U.S., nothing compared to Japan. Japan's debt-to-GDP ratio 2-1, only Zimbabwe has more debt than Japan and it is an older population and now on top of all of that, you have got this. Where are they going to find the cash to rebuild? They have lost $1 billion plant, they've lost a second billion-dollar nuclear plant. They are going to have to inspect all the facilities, inspect all 55 plants, decontaminate, clean up. It is going to be costly.

WHITFIELD: And still, of course, no one knows whether this contamination has been contained, what happens next and then we got the weather potentially making an impact. It's likely to continue to be cold, possibly even windy and maybe even some rain or some other form of precipitation. How might that hurt or hamper the efforts there to contain any of the contaminants in the air?

WALSH: Well, in the short term, and I have noticed this from watching CNN weather, I think there is good news here. And that is the winds are blowing east. If there are - if there's venting if they release some of the vapor in those reactors, so that the pressure doesn't build up too much that is going to go out to sea. And that's a good thing. That is going to have a minimal impact, but if it rains and they need to - there's some sort of leakage somewhere, then that could be a problem because that rain will bring down that radioactive contaminant and make it form pools and make it more focused around a geographic area.

You know, it's a tradeoff, Fredericka. If you disperse it, then that radiation covers a wider area but the impact is less.

WHITFIELD: All right.

WALSH: If it comes down, it affects a narrower area but that radiation may be more intense for the area it does affect. So that is the nature of the tradeoff.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Jim, we are going to talk to you again in the next hour. We're going to talk about the early treatment that some of the residents in that area might be able to get their hands on. Thanks so much, Jim. Check with you then.

WALSH: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: I heard a little bit about the weather, the potential impact of the radiation concerns. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras. What is the forecast there?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we're going to have all those things, actually. The next couple of days, in fact, we think the rain could be as much as 12 hours away across the area.

Here is our satellite picture, this big blob of the orange and the purple that we are looking at. That is to our storm system. Right now the winds are coming in for the most part out of the southeast, ahead of this cold front so what that is doing, it is bringing, you know, anything offshore at this time over the open waters, disbursement would take place. Now sometimes weather systems from out west makes its way to the U.S.. We have seen remnants of typhoons, we have seen dust from China that makes its way to the U.S. but we did speak with Jim earlier today and he tells us that the amount of radiation that would be in the air would not be something that we need to worry about in the U.S..

Now let's talk about the shifting winds, this front moves throughout the day on Monday and then into Tuesday, colder air is going to move in back behind it and the winds are going to shift from one direction to the other. So they are going to come in northwesterly so that would shoot anything back over the open water again. That is the good news that we are going to be getting.

Now in terms of winds right now, pretty calm, we're talking about five to 10 miles per hour, that is about it. It's not going to move a whole heck of a lot. Temperature-wise, it's the middle of the night, like 5:00 in the morning in Japan right now. And so this is the coldest it is going to be, and temperatures gradually warming up throughout the day as well. Now the rain is on the way, and that is going to cause things to come back down and so we are looking at rain through your Tuesday morning.

Temperatures close, they are probably going to start to see a little bit of snow mixed and the other thing to think about here, is not just what kind of a nuclear reaction we could have and what the weather could impact for that is also all the people. There are still rescue efforts that are going on right now. There are people that are still trapped, trying to help those people, and so when they are in the elements like this it is really - it can be very critical, especially if they get wet. We could be talking about things like hypothermia as well.

Winds should get as strong as maybe 15 miles per hour. That's all that we'll be looking at for the winds, so hopefully not too big of an issue. Because the other thing you worry about with the winds too, Fredricka, is all the damage that we've seen from the earthquake, and all the buildings, and the structures that were already compromised. We could see a little bit of shifting with that if those wind gusts get too strong.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. Jacqui, we're going to see you again after a short break, we're going to talk about some other nasty weather, this time impacting the northeast, New Jersey, in particular, right at the start of a work week.

JERAS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Much more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Start of a new workweek and it might be a little tricky getting around some parts of New Jersey. Flooding is still a big problem, Jacqui.

JERAS: It really is, those levels have been really high this weekend. They are going to stay that way, probably until the middle part of the week. Go ahead and take a look at the video that we have for you, out of New Jersey, we got about four different rivers that have been in major flood at this time. The best thing that I can tell you is that every one of those rivers has crested. The worst thing I can tell you is that it is going to take until probably Wednesday for all of them to get back within their banks. So out of flood.

There, you can see people who have been evacuated. So much rain and Snowbelt combined has been causing all of these problems. The good news is dry weather today for you in New Jersey and that's going to dry you out a little bit and certainly help conditions and help with the runoff a little bit. We've got flood watches and warnings though all over the place, really from the Mississippi River on eastward. This has been ongoing now for several weeks.

What's ahead? Are we going to get more rain into this area? The answer is, yes, you bet we are. And it's from this system that we are seeing in the nation's midsection. It's not a terribly strong system right now, it's just bringing in a couple of inches of rain across parts of the plains, as well as several inches of snowfall. You should be able to count the number of inches probably on one hand, maybe throwing a six in there but for the most part, not. That thing is going to be moving up towards the north into the east, then you can get maybe another half of an inch to an inch of rain from the mid- Atlantic to the northeast on your late Monday into Tuesday.

And then, of course, a system to follow that. That is what we are looking at across the west. This one has got a little bit more of a punch so it will be certainly a little more of a concern in the upcoming days. And impacting your travel as well. The other story that we have been following is what has been going on in Oklahoma, all those wildfires that have been going on here for the last couple of weeks as well. Rain in the forecast, that's good. This is going to last through your Monday but we're a little concerned on the backside of this system, is that those winds are going to kick up. So hopefully the rain is going to get out any of those embers, most of those fires are about 80 percent contained if not 100 percent contained right now. So that is a little bit of good news for that.

Temperature-wise, overall, we're pretty much where we should be for this time of year. We have no major temperature swings that we are talking about. So lots of 60s and 70s across the southern tier of the country. We're looking at 40s and 50s into the northeast as well. But that is one other thing that we have to watch. We wanted to warm up for spring, we're looking for some good news.

WHITFIELD: Right around the corner, right?

JERAS: I know but warmer temperatures means any snow that's still on the ground is starting to melt. And boy, we had a lot of snow in the last week and a half across some parts of the northeast.

WHITFIELD: And you're here. So that means you spring forward all right.

JERAS: I spring forward. Yes, I set my clocks. So if you guys are wondering what is going on.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

JERAS: You show up somewhere.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: I have a feeling a lot of folks need reminding. Spring forward one hour. If you haven't done it already, you are a little late. Maybe catch up by tomorrow. All right. Jacqui, thanks so much.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. And thanks for this information, too, letting us know that the weather is cloudy and stormy in Austin, Texas, where the South by Southwest Interactive Festival is currently under way. That event brings together new technology, original music and independent films and one film debuting made just for the internet is called "The Girl Walks into a Bar." Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A girl walks into a bar. And says -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Want to frisk me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you messing with me? I can't tell.

CARLA GUGINO, ACTRESS: Her name is Francine Driver, she is a hit woman. We will find out it is more complex than that, as the story goes on. And she - Zack Quinto and my character sort of meet in the initial bar and it is the setup for what will - what the night will become and she is very fast-talking, really fun character to play.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of guys don't have the ovaries for this job.

DANNY DE VITO, ACTOR: I play a guy who Zack happens to have a relationship with. So he has to come in, I own a bar but I'm the kind of guy who doesn't own the bar and stay in the front of the bar. I'm the guy who owns the bar, stays in the back of the bar, in an office somewhere. I won't kind of describe it any more in detail than that but you get the picture. And we have a business arrangement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A gangster says to his dentist -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you speak to my wife?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she sound out of breath?

DE VITO: Zack is a dentist. He's dentist. My dentist. I don't even recognize him. But I know that he gave me some money to use in some way that he needs. And he needs it right away because he has got a business dealing with, you know, Ms. Trigger finger over here.

GUGINO: We shot it in 11 days so each bar was one day, which is pretty crazy. And so as the actors, are doing little one-act plays which is also really fun.

DE VITO: There's no P & A, it goes to print and advertising. It goes right to you at home. You go on YouTube and you watch it for free. I love that. I think it's like a really great model. If it works, we are going to make a lot more of these movies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Born on the internet?

GUGINO: Definitely the wild west, which is exciting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The night hasn't even started.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: De Vito says a lot more movies like this. You know what he is talking about? Movies that are made just for the internet, that's the case for "The Girl Who Walks into a Bar." So you want to hear more about what is going on in Austin? Go to cnn.com/tech.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Japanese officials raised the official death toll today, 1,597. That is only the numbers that we are able to confirm. Hundreds are still unaccounted for and rescuers have yet to reach very remote pictures. These pictures are from Sendai, the port city closest to the quake's epicenter. Listen to this woman who says people in Sendai are still terrified.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YASUE SCHUMAKER, SENDAI QUAKE SURVIVOR (via telephone): There were some people staying in the car because they still - we still feel aftershocks. We prefer to stay in a car. It's really cold, no heater, of course, but they prefer stay in the car. After I saw that people who got - lost their homes or the people still needing help I think most of them, they are the ones who need help.

Somehow, we can have hope. Somehow we can hang in there. We need - we don't have are any water, gas, and the city just announced it could 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 the news. Still people on top of the building, asking for help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Yasue actually lives in Hawaii but she was visiting her mother there in Sendai and now they are all there together. The massive quake was centered about 80 miles from Sendai. Roads and buildings cracked and crumbled as far as 125 miles away.

And some of the most amazing pictures and video from Japan's disaster have actually come from people who have lived through it. Let's bring in CNN's Reggie Aqui with more on what viewers are sending.

REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, I'm looking right now at our I-report page and we saw this photo and we wanted to get in touch with the woman who took it. What you are seeing here are people in a long line at a city hall, in a small town northeast of Tokyo. They are waiting for water. And the person who took that is Sarah Fienerman. She's on the phone with us. She is a school teacher. She teaches English there. Sarah, I know it is very early in the morning where you are. Thank you so much for calling into us. Tell me about this photo that you took. How long were these people waiting for water?

SARAH FEINERMAN, I-REPORTER(via telephone): It looks a lot worse than it is. I showed up about 4:00 p.m. and that was - it cuts of about where the end of the line was. They said they were going to be there providing water from the trucks until 10:00 p.m. and so I went back and got my car to drive over and said this is going to take forever. But I brought four jugs with me and I was actually in and out in under half an hour. It was extremely efficient.

AQUI: Wow. OK. So this is the only way right now that you are able to get fresh water is to stand in these lines at these various city halls all around the town there in the rural area outside of Tokyo?

FEINERMAN: Exactly. That is what we have got.

AQUI: And how much are you allowed to get at a time? Is it enough to survive for the next day or so?

FEINERMAN: I thought there would be a limit so I only brought four because I didn't want to be greedy because I live alone. But there were people behind me, that had huge buckets and trash cans and things. There were no questions asked, fill up your bucket. So I think it is just whatever you want to do. Just (INAUDIBLE).

AQUI: Sarah, I'm going to show another photo that you took that you sent into i-reports. This is of empty shelves on one side. That's where the food would usually be and on the other, all the school supplies and tools, that no one really needs right now. How are you feeding yourself?

FEINERMAN: It was exciting at first. The first day I lived on peanuts that I found at a liquor store across the city.

AQUI: Oh my god.

FEINERMAN: And then I actually live next door to a drugstore and by - was it yesterday? By late evening of the second day, they had a system where they had like trays and tables from inside the store, they didn't let people go in so they brought the food out to them and would hand out baskets, and people would go down and take what they're offered but it was like tea and noodles were basically your options.

AQUI: You said this is the first time in your life that you had to experience the feeling of being hungry, of not having water at your disposal.

FEINERMAN: Oh, yes.

AQUI: I'm showing another photo here, this is I believe outside, and by the way, I should mention that you are in Ishioka City, again northeast of Tokyo. This is showing the street with the cones. And you can see that fissure in the middle of the street, just outside the police station. Are there emergency services being offered right now? Is there a need for that in your immediate area?

FEINERMAN: I don't believe so. Yes, as far as broken gas lines and water pipes and things, I have not heard anything, I don't see anything, but it doesn't mean it is not there. (INAUDIBLE) that they're probably handling it pretty well.

AQUI: Sarah, it sounds like you are resilient. I know that many times in your i-report, you talk about the resiliency of the people around you. You are able to laugh with us, be spirited even at this early in the morning, how are you doing?

FEINERMAN: I'm doing fantastic, actually. Thank you very much. Everyone around is absolutely wonderful. I could use water but other than that I can't really complain. I still got a house.

AQUI: Sarah, you have a very positive attitude, it seems to match people who are around you. Again, we appreciate you talking to us.

And Fred, there you go, another sign of resiliency that we've been talking about. You can find more reports like Sarah's by going to ireport.com. We certainly appreciate anyone who is in the area if it is safe to do so, to send in videos and photos as well.

WHITFIELD: All right. Reggie, thanks so much for bringing us that and of course, we will be bringing you more reports at home right here on CNN. Anderson Cooper reports live from Japan along with Sanjay Gupta, Soledad O'Brien in a special "Anderson Cooper 360," beginning tonight, 9:00 p.m., Eastern time.

And to find out about the on-going recovery efforts in Japan, and how you can help quake victims, visit our "Impact your World" page, that's at cnn.com/impact.

All right. Americans are helping with medical needs Japan. What one group is doing, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A check now of our top stories.

Japanese officials say it is possible a minor meltdown has already happened at a nuclear plant in northeast Japan. Monitors detected what may have been the melting of a fuel rod at the plant but they say there is no sign of dangerous radiation levels in the area.

And more than 3,000 people have been rescued in Japan so far. The official death toll after Friday's earthquake and tsunami now tops 1,500. And that number is expected to rise as teams go into harder hit areas.

An American carrier group is now in place and running emergency supplies into Japanese coastal towns. The "USS Ronald Reagan" was already in the area heading toward South Korea when the earthquake struck Friday. The ship's crews are filling American and Japanese helicopters with food and aid supplies.

And we are getting dramatic new images of the tsunami hitting the California coast. Boats tossed around, as you see right there in Santa Cruz harbor by the ripple effect there, dozens of boats actually sank, hundreds more were damaged. They are in the process of cleaning up the damage right now. Some dredging equipment has also been brought in to help lift the boats from the ocean floor.

Residents of northern New Jersey are hoping today could be the start of a drying trend. Days of heavy rain have soaked the state. Evacuated residents in Red Cross shelters now want to go home but there is still major flooding in the cities of Patterson and Wayne, where two big rivers crested overnight.

In Yemen, security forces fired guns and tear gas at protesters today. At least 10 people were said to be wounded, another 100 sickened. Protestors are angry over high unemployment and what happened they see as a lack of political freedom.

And Libyan rebels say they have pulled out of the town of al Brega, calling it a tactical retreat. But forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi say they recaptured the town after days of fighting. CNN's Nic Robertson says it is unclear where the front line is in this civil war.

On Bahrain, more violent anti-government protests. Police fired tear gas at one of several demonstrations in the kingdom's capital. In other protest, several people were hurt at Bahrain University when supporters of the royal family faced off with student protesters. Bahrain's government denies any unjustified force was used against the protesters.

Offers of help are pouring in to Japan. International Medical Corp. is a U.S. group that already has people in Tokyo. And spokeswoman Margaret Aguirre joins us now by phone from Los Angeles. And Margaret what kind of help is your group providing?

MARGARET AGUIRRE, INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORP (via telephone): Well right now International Medial Corp. really wants to be able to sport local agencies, the local health authorities in the work that they are doing. Japan, as we all know, has very strong emergency management systems. And so we want to really be able to support that. That means providing technical expertise as well as logistical support.

WHITFIELD: Now Japan, while it welcomes a lot of support and help it is being very specific about who it wants to help and where. Are you getting anything kind of directive yet?

AGUIRRE: We have just arrived there we are just beginning the coordination and really looking for -- in addition to local officials, also local partners whom we can really supplement their activities. A lot of times in these situations, there are a lot of groups that go in or want to help, really has to be the right kind of help. So we are really trying to focus on giving them the kind of help that they need most.

WHITFIELD: What kind of help would that be?

AGUIRRE: Right now, again, it is logistics, supplies, helping them get the proper medicines and then the expertise they are going to need for the kinds of health issues that they are going to be facing. People need the basics, they need water, they need food, they need blankets, they also need certain kinds of medications and surgical, you know --

WHITFIELD: And are you clear on what kind of injuries that you might be able to assist in?

AGUIRRE: Generally what we see in situations like this, the Indian Ocean tsunami, is you see a lot of crush injuries, a lot of trauma, broken limbs. It is going to be similar to that we are also expecting that because water and food maybe contaminated, clean water is hard to come by, that we may start to see disease outbreaks. We are looking at those kinds of things, exposure, very cold at night. I understand in Sendai and looking at that as well.

WHITFIELD: Margaret Aguirre with the International Medical Corps thanks so much for your time and all the best.

To find out about the ongoing recovery efforts in Japan and how you can help quake victims, visit our Impact your World page that is at CNN.com/impact.

Up next, conflicting stories about a deadly bus crash here in the U.S. What the bus driver, the passengers and the witnesses are saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We will have much more ahead of our coverage of the disaster in Japan in a moment, but first, the investigation into a bus crash that killed 14 people in New York this weekend. The NTSB and police are taking a hard look at the company operating the bus. Let's bring in our Susan Candiotti in New York what more have you learned?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well you know, among the questions, was the bus driver going too fast or did a passing truck force him to lose control? Investigators, Fred, are looking at every aspect of the crash, including the background of those involved. Worldwide Tours that ran the trip to the casino has had some incidents in its past. As we first reported yesterday, Department of Transportation records show the company has had two accidents with injuries since October of 2009 and five violations for fatigued driving in that same period.

Now the company has not responded to our calls asking about its records. Worldwide Tours says is cooperating with the investigation. As far as the bus driver police say he was once convicted for driving with a suspended license that was in 2003. He currently has a valid commercial license. We have been unable to speak with him. At last check, the driver was still in the hospital, although he has spoken with police.

The National Transportation Safety Board visited the crash scene today. As you know, before dawn yesterday, a tour bus was on its way back to New York from a Casino in Connecticut, lost control, hit a thick sign post, which sliced through the bus length-wise, killing 14 people. Witnesses have told police the bus was going at a high rate of speed down I-95 before the accident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw the logo on the back of the bus, Worldwide Tours, he just passed us about 15 minutes ago that its guy that passed us about 15 minutes ago at a very high rate of speed and that's when Joe was like, and I'm calling the cops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: The bus driver told police he was forced to swerve out of the way of a passing tractor trailer. Investigators are checking both vehicles to see whether they clipped each other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJOR MICHAEL KOPY, N.Y. STATE POLICE TROOP COMMANDER: We have identified at least one other vehicle that vehicle is being transported to another location for a similar inspection. At this point, given that those inspections have not been completed it would be premature to discuss what, if any, actions another vehicle may have had in this accident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: At the crash site, someone left flowers to remember the 14 people who were killed and 18 injured. All the passengers started their trip to have a good time at a casino. Unfortunately, it ended in tragedy. The National Transportation Safety Board will have a briefing later tonight. One of the things we want to ask about is whether they found that black box, whether they had a chance to look at it which could tell us how fast the bus was going and whether they had a chance to examine the camera that was on board the bus.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: Still lots of questions. Thanks so much. Susan Candiotti in New York.

Time for CNN Equals Politics update, keeping an eye on the latest headlines on the CNNpolitics.com desk. Here is what is crossing right now. U.S. Congress must take action this week to prevent the Federal government from shutting down Friday. That's when funding runs out. Republicans and Democrats are expected to pass another short-term money extension to avoid a shutdown while negotiations on the final budget will continue.

And a homecoming this weekend in Wisconsin for 14 Democratic senators who fled the state to block a vote on a bill cutting public workers union rights. The Republican-controlled Senate passed the controversial bill last week without the Democrats by taking out its spending provisions.

An historical gaffe from a potential presidential hopeful during a trip to New Hampshire. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann told the crowd, "You're in the state where the shot was heard around the world, Lexington and Concord." The 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord were, in fact, fought in Massachusetts.

Rescuers searched through dangerous debris in an effort to find survivors in one of the hardest-hit areas by that Japanese quake. Right after this.

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WHITFIELD: In Japan, as they continue to search for any survivors and try to contain any radioactive material, the weather can either be their friend or their foe. Let's check in with our Jacqui Jeras to find out that whether the weather will be on their side it is cold right now.

JACQUI JERAS, ATM METEOROLOGIST: It is cold, very cold. The biggest complications with that really has to do with the people that they are trying to rescue. So when you are talking about conditions that are around the freezing mark, if you get anything wet that goes along with it you start getting worried about things like hypothermia. It is very early morning hours right now in Japan. In fact, almost 6:00 in the morning there. So, this is about as cold as it is going to be getting all day long. Temperatures in this region are really flirting with the freezing mark right now, but it is going to be warming up throughout day and getting into the middle 40s, now late Monday and into Tuesday, we think there is going to be some rain coming in with the storm system and so that kind of makes it feel a little bit colder and kind of holds the weather conditions in place.

In fact we could even see a little bit of snow possibly mixing in on Tuesday morning but no real accumulations are going to be expected with that now. Now the next thing that we worry about are the wind conditions and what's going to be happening here and that storm system is coming in right now ahead of the system, the winds are coming in out of the southeast which pushes them -- or southwest, rather, which pushes them up towards the northeast and then we are going to see those winds change with that cold front, all the rain up to the north right now. So this is what we are expecting in the next say 24 to 36 hours.

Here are those winds coming in now, so that would push any type of radioactive cloud or hydrogen bubble it would be pushing things away from the shoreline so that is the good news. Then our second thing, as that front comes through it is going to change the wind to a northwesterly direction. They are going to be coming in like this and once again, pushing it off the shore. So both of those things are certainly good at this point. These are the current conditions across the area, very, very light.

The other thing we are watching for in terms of wind if they get strong and gusty, they can become erratic in addition to that if they get too strong, it can really kind of compromise some of those structures that are just kind of barely hanging on that are out there already that have been severely damaged. So we will continue to watch that situation that develops the next 24 hours or so. But overall Fredricka other than the rain you know really impacting things and the cold for the rescue efforts there is nothing too detrimental at this time.

WHITFIELD: All right .Thanks so much Jacqui.

We see how complicate it is there in Japan. Well CNN's Kyung Lah shows us just how difficult the search is.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Military helicopters continue the search for the living in the Sudami (ph) ravaged city of Sendai. In this one residential area called Taki (ph) rescuers are still pulling the injured to safety. The silver gurney lifts a survivor, but increasingly, the found are the dead. Search crews pull a body from the water, someone who drowned in a car. Another body lies under this tarp. The large number of military and search crews finding more dead and fewer living victims as the hours pass.

Frightening beyond belief says Okamo (ph). I have no words. Okamo's (ph) uncle and mother are missing and feared dead. They were both home when the tsunami came in. He is now waiting for word. Witnesses here say the first tsunami wave was as high as the top of this tree line, tossing cars like toys into piles, blasting out windows, crushing homes or sweeping them away completely. This flooded area once had a row of houses, now gone.

The force of the tsunami flipped this truck completely upside down. It landed here at this elementary school, wheels up. This school is quite a bit inland but you really start to see the signs of this tsunami. You can see how high the water and debris line here, especially against the white wall of the school and the power of the tsunami, the doors of the school are completely blown off. Look down the hallway. That's a car.

Four hundred and fifty students, teachers and workers were in the school when the tsunami warning came. Many managed to escape. The Japanese military says they pulled bodies from the school. The residents of Fatacky (ph) started returning home but only briefly. Carrying out what they could to evacuation centers. They faced challenges on dry land, little gas; long lines wrapped around the few stations open and even longer lines of people several blocks long at food and water distribution centers. A waiting game on multiple fronts for these tsunami survivors.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Sendai, Japan.

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WHITFIELD: Japan's quake sparks a debate over the future of nuclear power in the U.S. Details on that, next.

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WHITFIELD: Japan's quake disaster, the U.S. budget battle and rising gas prices are all topics generating a lot of debate on the Sunday morning talk shows. Here are some of the highlights.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you're saying here is that we should have a moratorium now on building nuclear plants; we should just kind of stop and reassess?

SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (L) CONNECTICUT: I think we have got to -- I don't want to stop the building of nuclear power plants but I think we have got too quietly and quickly put the brakes on until we can absorb what has happened in Japan.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) KENTUCKY: My thought about it is we ought not to make American domestic policy based on an event that happened in Japan, but concentrate on helping the Japanese get past this catastrophe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seems we have yet another continuing resolution. This is just no way to run a railroad. You all could have gotten together last year, you didn't, now you are still working on last year's budget and guess what, and this year's budget is already sitting on your plate. What can you-all give? SEN. JON KYL, (R) ARIZONA: Democrats were in charge of the House and Senate last year. Their job was to get a budget and fund the government they didn't do that. So when Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, the first bill they passed, and Kevin should talk about it. It is called hr-1. And it would fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year, through the end of September. It has reductions in spending of $61 billion.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R) CALIFORNIA: Look, we are not going to shut down the government. We want the Democrats to step up. You can't negotiate with yourself.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: We have put some cuts on the table. We are willing to put more but they have not said a single place where they would move off hr-1 and now it can't pass.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is President Obama to blame for rising gas prices?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) KENTUCKY: Well, he certainly participated. This administration, the last two years, have been shutting down wells. It has been a conscious effort to make it difficult to drill in this country, both onshore and offshore, 60 percent of our oil is coming from overseas that's unacceptable. We have vast reserves in this country, particularly in Alaska. My goodness, when are we going to use our own reserves and quit depending so much on areas of the world that don't like it?

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN, (R) ILLINOIS: We need to be thinking about what we need to do as a nation to move forward. Energy efficiency, with a thought toward the environmental impact of the use of energy, these are things a great nation needs to do if it is going to lead in the 21st century.

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WHITFIELD: And relieving the moment the tsunami hit, powerful images, when we come back.

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WHITFIELD: In other news from overseas. More than 100 people reportedly were hurt in Yemen's capital after security forces fired guns and tear gas at protesters outside Yemen University. Crowds of mainly young people have been demonstrating over high unemployment and what they see as government corruption.

And forces loyal to Libya as Moammar Gadhafi are back in control of al Brega. Libya state television reports the troops retook that town. But opposition leaders tell CNN their forces left calling it a tactical retreat.

Who controls al Brega is significant in Libya's revolving civil war. It means they have their hands on the on and off switch for electricity in the region.

Here is Ben Wedeman. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Libyan government continues its advance. The latest is that they have taken over the strategic town of al Brega about two hours' drive west.

Now al Brega is very important because it is the site of a very large oil refinery and natural gas processing plant. In fact, the natural gas from al Brega is what fuels the power plant. Who controls that power plant can turn off the electric or the is the effect the capital of the revolution in Libya.

Now at this point it appears that the government forces control Ras Lanuf and Brega two very important cities. And there is not much to stop the government forces getting to Gasai (ph) where I am it is about a two hour drive on a largely undefended highway. What we have seen so far is despite their spirit and determination the anti-Gadhafi forces continue to be unorganized and essentially completely out done unable to stop this advance by forces loyal to Gadhafi.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from al Brega.

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WHITFIELD: In many cases in northeast Japan people had only 30 minutes or less to make it to higher ground after the tsunami alerts went off. Here are some of the first images from some of those first moments.

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