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New, Dramatic Video of Tsunami; Devastation in Japan; Pictures of Japan Before/After Tsunami; Japan's Earthquake Warning System Saves Lives; Weather Can After Exposure to Radioactivity in Meltdown

Aired March 13, 2011 - 18:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

This hour, it's all about the incredible new images coming out of Japan. So, we begin this broadcast with breaking news. New dramatic video coming in to us right through the tsunami as it swept through the streets of Sendai, the city closest to the earthquake epicenter.

This video almost just defies belief. We're going to take a moment and let it play for you just as it was covered in the news in Japan. Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS, TV ASAHI)

LEMON: That's how it all unfolded. Right when that tsunami and earthquake hit. It is unbelievable. And, then, of course, after this, the initial shock. And then came the damage.

Take a look at this new video coming in. Craters in the streets all over Japan, and that is just to start.

And, again, all of these images are coming to us from Japanese television. And as we go through this broadcast, we're just going to talk over the video and just let you look at it for yourself.

Look at this. That was probably a neighborhood once. Now, it's a field of destruction. These are the streets, police on the streets, cars trying to get through when they can. Most of it, we're told, is just uninhabitable.

Look at that. People trying to figure out exactly what's going on. They're wearing masks. Many people who are close to the source of that explosion at a nuclear plant have been wearing radiation suits.

And a lot of this, again, coming to us from Japanese television. It is incredible to see these images.

Also happening, as we speak, rescues from the rubble and the muck. I want you to look now as a group of elderly people are rescued from a car after being trapped for days. Again, this is how the drama unfolded on Japanese television. Look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NHK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Suddenly, there was activity on the roof.

Someone shouts there is still another person. They ask self-defense force troops to help.

There were survivors in the car.

An elderly person had been stuck in this car. The person was rescued safely 10 minutes later. It turned out there were three elderly people.

The car had been covered in mud and debris and they could not get out, and for 20 hours, they were trapped in the car. This woman says that she was washed away by the waves and that she was afraid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Again, unbelievable stories. There's more where that came from. We're going to show that to you throughout this broadcast.

And throughout most of the broadcast we're going to keep the Japanese television up in the corner of your screen because as the sun rises on day three of this catastrophe, Japan is waking up to a new day of very harsh reality.

So, let's get to the city closest to the epicenter of this earthquake, Sendai. It was also ground zero for the incredible tsunami that followed.

Our Martin Savidge toured Sendai today and saw the devastation up close. He joins us now.

Martin, unbelievable. What are you seeing?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's unbelievable, Don. I've seen, unfortunately, a lot of disasters in the past, and it is just staggering. As you come into town, especially in the area of the debris field where the tsunami came in and struck the city.

This is a massive city. It's a very, very large place. And as you start to drive in there, immediately, sensory overload begins. You go, oh, my gosh, look at that. And then you turn your head and say, oh, look at that. And then it's like, oh, my God, look at this.

I mean, as you progress down the road, it just becomes greater and greater and greater and, the sense of overwhelming disaster that struck here literally in a matter of seconds. We are still a couple of miles away for the ocean, and there is just total destruction around us here. Cameras and words aren't doing justice to this.

We had a very difficult time even getting into Sendai yesterday. And as a day again here, it is a new room of searching. But we found some searchers that were working yesterday.

Well, take a look at our story because it changes as it goes on. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): How do you begin to search what looks like the end of the world? In the seaside city of Sendai, emergency teams carefully pick their way through the devastation, dwarfed by the size of the tsunami's impact. Often the teams are trailed by anxious civilians looking for any signs of missing loved ones.

I wanted to ask this man who he was looking for, but I never got the chance.

(on camera): So, we were starting to follow this what appears to be a search crew. But now, the problem is that apparently there's been another tsunami warning. So, the crew and everyone else here is being told to get away -- which is what they're doing.

(voice-over): It's hard to tell how real the threat may be. Nerves in Sendai are very much still on edge.

Officials shout their warnings, load up, and head for higher ground.

We go in the opposite direction, heading toward the coast, and the closer we get, the more unreal the scenery. The tidal surge rushed inland in some places six miles.

Getting around is difficult. Many roads here are impassable.

Adding to the apocalyptic scenes, huge fires continue to burn unchecked. Thick black smoke and flames boiled from a refinery.

As we videoed the scene, we notice something else.

(on camera): Up until now, we heard the sirens. We've heard the announcements another tsunami coming, but nobody really seemed to be that anxious. Then, all of a sudden, notice the water here. It's racing out. We're leaving.

(voice-over): Fortunately, the threat never materializes, which is a good thing because Sendai has already seen more than its share of hell and high water.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: They're continuing now, Don, to try to find people. Unfortunately, most of the people that have been found in this particular area have not been found alive. Most of the victims -- this is industrial area -- most of the victims have been trapped in their automobiles. And that's pretty much been the story from place to place and that's going to be the scene.

There are other areas where you had neighborhoods and things like that. That's where the focus and search is going on there.

A lot of helicopter activity today -- much of it heading north which would make sense because as you have more of devastation (INAUDIBLE), but, of course, all the other landing aircraft. The aircraft, of course, are being used to search and to remove the injured and those who have probably survived.

The focus here is still trying to find those alive. But in this particular part of Sendai, that's unlikely, because first, the earthquake trapped them and then came the water -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Thank you for that, Martin Savidge. Stand by. We'll see you a little bit later on this evening.

The death toll has risen now nearly to 1,600 people. Nearly 1,500 others are now listed as missing and more than 1,900 injured.

Quake-damaged nuclear reactors have Japan's population even more on edge right now. Crews are using sea water to cool reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, a last-ditch move to prevent further meltdowns.

Officials are assuming two of the reactors went through a partial meltdown. Experts say the risk of massive radiation exposure is low at least for now. More than 200,000 people have evacuated the area.

About 2.5 million households are still without power. The country's electric power company is conducting rolling power outages in three- hour intervals to keep up with the demands.

Japan's foreign minister says 69 governments are offering help. The U.S. has sent warships, supplies, search and rescue teams, and two experts on nuclear reactors.

And as if there aren't enough problems there, now there is a volcano to worry about. It erupted today on an island on the southwest part of Japan, sending a huge plume of smoke and ash into the air. It's almost 1,000 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake and it's not clear whether the two are connected.

Here's a question though: Did a nuclear meltdown occur at a power plant in Fukushima?

Nuclear engineering professor, Glenn Sjoden, is next.

And many of you are reacting to the disaster in Japan. You're doing it online. I'm online. So, make sure you check out my social media accounts and send us what you know about this disaster and how you can help.

But, first, we have to tell you -- not everybody is fortunate in Japan to be rescued like those three elderly people. One survivor clung to her daughter but in a terrifying instant, the ravaging water swept her away. Another hellish moment that played out on Japanese television.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NHK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): A tsunami hit us. I grabbed something tightly, holding my daughter's hand, but I lost my grip when I was swept away in the debris and water. I managed to survive, but my daughter was washed away. I don't know what to say. I hope my daughter is still alive somewhere. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the devastation in Japan.

I want to tell you again, throughout most of this hour, we're going to keep Japanese television up on the corner of your screen as it warrants -- to look at the latest video coming in.

The sun is coming up, day three. They're finding more destruction, more devastation, and hopefully more rescues.

In the meantime, Japanese government officials admit they don't know for certain that a meltdown has already occurred at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima. But they do they're trying to stop another one. Crews are flooding reactors with seawater to try to cool them down. The government insists the situation is under control even as a state of emergency has been declared at another nuclear facility.

I even joined now by Glenn Sjoden in Houston. He is a nuclear engineering professor at Georgia Tech.

Thank you very much for this.

OK. So, another one has been found. Last night, we spoke, and you said the possibility here, the folks there did not have much to worry about in your estimation.

Has your mind changed since we spoke last?

PROF. GLENN SJODEN, GEORGIA TECH: Well, they're obviously facing severe difficulties right now. It seems like they've had difficulties in keeping the core covered even though they're pumping seawater in. And this is a growing concern if they -- if they do uncover the core. So, the major effort is to keep the core covered with seawater to keep it cooling.

And then pressure releases that they're going to have to do as the heat builds up and pressure and temperature build up. They're going to have to go ahead and release that from the main building to be able to, you know, control that pressure, control that temperature and make sure that those rods are covered.

The rods will stay --

LEMON: Hang on, Professor. I'll let you get to the rods. But let's take it one step at a time here.

Let's talk about -- you said if the core is opened. What's the threat there?

SJODEN: What I mean is if the core is uncovered -- meaning: not covered by water, the rods have to have water covering them to make sure that there's adequate heat transfer. Otherwise it seems there has been a partial zirconium water reaction and probably what happened was the water level dropped a bit and when they re-flooded the core, those rods were -- the uncovered part of the rods were very hot and that degraded some of their zirconium cladding or zircaloy cladding on the fuel, and that reacted with water, producing basically zirconium oxide and hydrogen gas, and that's the hydrogen gas that's being vented from the reactor vessel.

But, again, these are built and engineered extremely well to handle extreme pressures and temperatures way beyond what the normal operating parameters are in anticipation that these issues might someday arrive, which they have. So, they've engineered this to handle -- even this hydrogen explosion, you notice, there was no breach of containment, there was no interruption of the reactor vessel itself. So, the main goal here is to make sure that that seawater covers that fuel.

If they're having difficulty with that, that is going to cause some problems.

LEMON: OK. Professor, in laymen's terms here, for the folks who are watching -- you know, I'm not an expert when it comes to nuclear power, radiation or what have you. But again, I want to get to the bottom of this. You said last night, as far as concern about radiation, in your estimation -- in your estimation, you can -- if you go and get an X-ray or certain procedure at the doctor, that most of us -- that most of us are exposed to higher levels of radiation than have already leaked, according to reports.

So, what is the concern there? What's the exposure for people there?

SJODEN: The good news is the system is robustly designed. The containing building is containing the radiation and that's the whole point of having a containment building and the various extreme containment systems. They spent a lot of money on the containment these reactors when they built them.

For instance, Chernobyl did not have any containment. It was just an industrial building.

This building on top of this reactor is a containment building that has a pressured -- you know, pressurized, pre-stressed concrete and a pressure seal so that it's basically going to contain -- even if that reactor has catastrophic consequences, and I don't see any reason why as long as they continue to pump seawater in there and cool those rods that it's going to have any what I would call catastrophic consequences. Even if it were to have those consequences, the containment building is going to contain the lion's share of all that radiation.

LEMON: OK.

SJODEN: There will be some small emissions.

LEMON: All right.

SJODEN: But at the sight boundary, you're talking low levels, way low than what you get routinely get on medical exam or a CT. The CT exam at the latest levels --

LEMON: OK, Professor, listen, we've got a lot of news to get there. Thank you. You're going to join us in a little bit. So, we appreciate you joining us now to explain that part of it. And, again, we'll get back to you.

I also want to remind our viewers that we are keeping a close eye on Japanese television. We'll keep an eye on the corner of the screen to watch the images as they come, as they're unfolding on day three of sunlight for this disaster. They're unbelievable -- again, keeping a close eye on them. We'll bring them to you as they come in to us.

In the meantime, let's check other stories of the day.

First up on our top stories, rebels are on retreat in Libya, but the opposition insists its pullback from the town of al Brega is a tactical one. Moammar Gadhafi's regime is pushing ahead its offensive to retake rebel-held cities, including the oil port of Ras Lanuf. Meanwhile, international pressures are intensifying for a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians.

And look at this shocking video, it's out of Bahrain. It appears to show riot police shooting a man at point-blank range with tear gas. CNN cannot independently authenticate the video which was posted by an opposition party. Anti-government protests and clashes increase in the Gulf kingdom Sunday as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with Bahrain's king.

The tour bus company involved in an accident that killed 14 passengers in New York City Saturday had been involved in two other injury accidents in the last two years. The accident on I-95 in the Bronx injured 18 others on the bus. Authorities say drivers for World Wide Travel were also cited five times for fatigue driving in those two years.

The company said it is heartbroken over the deaths and the injuries. Police have not determined the cause of the accident, although the bus driver told authorities that a truck cut him off.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley abruptly resigned his job today. Sources say the resignation followed pressure from the White House. Crowley infuriated administration officials with comments he made about Army Private Bradley Manning, the alleged source of classified State Department cables published by the Web site WikiLeaks.

Speaking to a small group last week, Crowley suggested the administration is mistreating Bradley who is being held in solitary confinement, calling his mistreatment as counterproductive and stupid.

And we're getting new, dramatic images of the tsunami hitting the California coast on Saturday. Take a look at this. Boats were tossed around in the Santa Cruz harbor by the ripple effect. Dozens of boats sank. Hundreds more were damaged.

And they're in the process of cleaning up the damage right now. Some dredging equipment has been brought in to help lift the boats from the ocean floor.

There's an outpouring of groups rushing to help in Japan. Next, we'll talk to AmeriCares about emergency relief. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My son might have been engulfed by the tsunami. I hope he's taking shelter somewhere. I'm struggling to locate him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My husband hasn't come here yet. He left the home a little later than me. Our house was swept away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm looking for my son's wife. I have no idea which shelter she is in.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

LEMON: It's coming up on 7:30 morning in Japan. And NHK which that report is from says they're at a train station and very few passengers are onboard those trains. It's the first day back to work for these people and, obviously, they're devastated by the earthquake and also the tsunami. We'll continue to follow that, continue to monitor the incredible images that are coming out of Japan -- destruction. They're now matched by incredible stories of survival.

Two days after the monster wave hit, rescuers found a 60-year-old man stranded at sea. Hiromitsu Shinkawa had been floating on a piece of his home's roof. Rescuers found him nine miles off the Fukushima's Prefecture -- excuse me -- standing on the roof piece and waving a red flag. There he is in that boat.

Kyoto news reports a man fled his home because of the quake but then returned with his wife to get some belongings. Then the tsunami hit, of course. Shinkawa says his wife was swept away. Kyoto news says when a rescuer gave him a drink after his rescue, the man swallowed, and then he burst into tears.

The nonprofit disaster relief organization AmeriCares is one of many rushing to help Japan.

And Michelle Jackson is on the emergency response team. And she is the manager for AmeriCares. She joins me now by phone from Tokyo.

You heard the reports of that man rescued. You heard very few people in the train station. And, Michelle, you see those images and you hear the stories. How are you guys responding to that?

MICHELLE JACKSON, AMERICARES (via telephone): So, yes, we are responding here in Tokyo. We are coordinating here in Tokyo. We are predominantly in the health sector. So, we have been coordinating over the weekend with some of our cross-sector contacts here. Japan is very well-organized and we know that. They're ready for this kind of disaster and there's no doubt that they will see some of these kinds of needs in the medical field. So, we're here really to support the government of Japan and we're also partnering with local NGOs here. So, today, I'm actually going to go to a coordination body which is kind of a coordination body for NGOs here.

We're kind of hoping that this coordination will be very similar to United Nations cluster that we saw in Haiti. And so, we're trying -- I think Japan is still trying to figure out how to receive and incorporate international assistance and how we can play a role in that.

LEMON: I want to ask you -- I want to ask you, Michelle, because this is a disaster of many proportions. You've got water, you've got mud, you've got the earth that's opened up, you've got fire. And then you -- on top of that, you have the threat of radiation.

How do you prepare for that? Had you -- AmeriCares or anyone, is anyone prepared for that sort of calamity?

JACKSON: Well, we have seen this earthquake and tsunami in tandem before, especially, you know, just recently in Chile this happened. The nuclear reactor is kind of throwing a whole new level complexity to the situation.

What we're looking to do is to kind of organize some of these coordination bodies, mostly at the state level here, and looking at what the hospitals are going to end up needing. What the clinics are going to end up needing and know what the local NGOs are going to end.

And I think in terms of needs, we are going to see a lot of needs for medication and medical supplies for the tsunami part of this. And, also, I think we're going to see a very new kind of response and that there's a very large elderly rate here. There's about 20 percent of the victims are going to be elderly. So, we are looking at chronic (ph) meds, oxygen, and dialysis supplies which have been, you know, that's needed here.

In terms of the -- in terms of the nuclear plant -- I mean, we have a little bit of experience back with Chernobyl. But, I mean, I think this is adding a very new level to the complexity of the situation.

LEMON: Yes, and let me ask you this because, you know, I know you've done this a lot. This is your job. But it still -- it still has to be tough. Can you tell our viewers what you're witnessing when you are on the ground there, and what's your -- what's your initial reaction?

JACKSON: Yes, it is tough. You know, here in Tokyo, they haven't -- the impact hasn't really -- we haven't seen the disaster here so much. So, I haven't seen images here, but I know, you know, in Haiti, and in Chile, and some of these other disasters, it is just so difficult to see families trying to find some of their family members and seeing lines and lines for health care. I mean, I don't think we're going to see some of those lines here in terms of the hospitals, but even seeing the families -- the story about family members trying to find, you know, their kids and their sisters, I mean, it's always really difficult to talk to people who have been experiencing these kinds of calamities.

But it's never easy, no matter how many times you've seen it. It's still gut-wrenching.

LEMON: I can imagine. Michelle Jackson with AmeriCares -- best of luck. Thank you so much for joining us.

JACKSON: Thank you so much.

LEMON: All right.

Now, here's what you need to know if you want to help the victims. They may be without power, missing loved ones, or need food and water, or possibly all three. If you go to CNN.com/impact, CNN.com/impact, you'll find a list of organizations giving aid.

Next up here on CNN, an astonishing look at Japan before and after the earthquake and tsunami struck.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED JAPANESE CORRESPONDENT: Last night, this is (INAUDIBLE) Bay of (INAUDIBLE) City in the picture is coving scallop growers from two days before the earthquake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And you're looking at a live report from NHK in Japan as they're reporting this. Again, these images are just coming in to CNN and just coming in Japanese television. We're keeping an eye on that. You can see the weather. It is cold. It is snowing in some areas. You can see what the tsunami and earthquake did to infrastructure there. The telephone lines, electric lines strewn about. Again, this is report is live from Japanese television, NHK.

Let's listen in for just a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED JAPANESE CORRESPONDENT (through translation): Local people urged us to flee because a tsunami will be coming, and we rose to a higher place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That is a live broadcast from NHK in Japan. Obviously, this is breaking news there. They have continuing coverage, as we do here on CNN in the United States and on CNN International. I want to tell you about this. CNN.com, as a matter of fact, has put together an amazing way to see what the earthquake and the tsunami did to the coastline and the people who live there.

Reggie Aqui joins us now to walk us through this.

Hi, Reggie Aqui.

REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don. Yes, we're going to look at the web site right here so I can show you where you can find this information. It's unbelievable the number of people around the world who are looking for these are pictures, images, especially images that show before and after.

First, what I want to do is bring you to this map of Japan. This will give you a better idea geographically where everything is happening.

Right here is where the epicenter was. You can do this at home. Click on one of the cities here. Sendai, it's one of the cities we've been talking about the most. It's where our correspondent Kyung Lah has been for several days now. You can see what the tsunami did to the Sendai Airport. You can also get a closer look at what all that means from these before and after pictures. Right here, I'm in Sendai. This is a look from above of what the town looked like before the earthquake, before the tsunami.

What I'm going to do -- again, you can do this at home. I'm going to pull this over with my finger halfway. Before is on the left-hand side of the screen, after is on the right-hand side of the screen. You can see these communities that have essentially disappeared, under water, houses washed away. I'm going to pull that all the way across. You can get the whole impact. You can see these dark areas where it's been flooded in that part of Sendai.

I also want to show you what the airport looked like before and after. That's before. I'll pull this over here. And then you'll see in a second the after. Again, all the water filling in these areas here where there were homes. You can see part of the airport. Much of that not destroyed but much of that on the tarmac under water.

Also I want to show you some of these amazing photos that we're getting in. A video certainly tells part of the story, but the photos really capture the heart of what's happening to the people there. You can see the looks on their faces as they're being rescued on these rafts. Another one here, a woman trying to clean up her home.

I also want to remind you if you want to reach out and help the folks there, you can go to "Impact Your World," which is linked on our main web site and find out how you can donate to the people of Japan who need our help so much -- Don?

LEMON: Reggie Aqui, thank you so much.

We've got you covered on the Internet, CNN.com, CNN Radio, CNN domestic, CNN International, as well as a host of other platforms. Before we go to a break, I want to take you live to a broadcast from NHK. We're monitoring the pictures of what they're reporting from there, new images that come in every single second. This is the third day as sunlight comes up.

As we look at these pictures, I want to tell you, coming up next here on CNN, a compelling story of a woman who was stranded in Sendai while caring for her mother.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. I want to remind you, again, day three here, sunlight on this devastating situation. We're going to keep an eye on Japanese television. We're keeping an eye on TV Asahi and NHK, both doing amazing reporting. They've been live since this happened, obviously, of what's going on.

Listen in just for a second and then we'll bring you more news about this.

(VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Again, the news as it's being broadcast in Japan. The clock is ticking to rescue survivors from the disaster in Japan. And the death toll continues to climb to nearly 1,600 people.

Here's what another major concern is. The risk of meltdown from a quake-damaged nuclear reactor -- nuclear reactors. Officials assume that two reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant have been through a partial meltdown. Crews are using sea waters to cool the reactors. Meantime, the defense foreign minister says 69 governments are offering help. The U.S. has sent warships, supplies, search and rescue teams, and two experts on nuclear reactors.

Next on CNN, a look at Japan's warning system when the quake struck. And, again, as we leave you, we look at more images of devastation and more pictures from a live broadcast in Japan as the news is being told to the people who have suffered so much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back now to our continuing coverage of the disaster in Japan. And we're keeping a close watch on Japanese television as it's being broadcast there. TV Asahi doing a report now on the devastation. and you see it there right in the corner of your screen, and we're going to keep that picture up for you and continue to monitor it throughout this broadcast as it warrants it, and we'll bring it to you. You'll see a full report when new pictures come in here on CNN.

In the meantime, Japan has an earthquake early warning system that may have saved countless lives in this latest disaster.

I want to go now to our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras, who will tell us about it. Jacqui, how does all of this work?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's an amazing system, Don. They have been working on this literally for over a decade. It finally got implemented back in 2007. It really intertwines all throughout their culture and throughout their infrastructure. We're talking about alerting in many, many different ways.

First of all, it's automated, so that really helps. It helps give advance warning. This kind of situation, we can't really predict earthquakes or tsunamis until after the earthquake happens. So this is really the best system, probably one of the top in the world if not the top.

Take a look at this video that we have. This is the parliament in Tokyo and this box here shows you the warning, that the earthquake is coming. Take notice. See these guys, all of a sudden, they start looking up? It's literally within a couple of seconds that they had between the time that the warning was issued and the time that they started to feel things and notice the difference. And when we're talking 40 to 50 seconds, maybe that doesn't sound like a lot. But that's for the earthquake part, not necessarily just the tsunami.

How do they figure all of this out? How do they know when the earthquake is coming? Well, when an earthquake happens, it sends out waves, two different types of waves. We have "P" waves and "S" waves. The "P" waves come first. They are kind of these compression-type waves. They come much, much faster. When the sensors start detecting this, they know the "S" waves are going to follow. The "S" waves are the ones that go like this, they do the wavy thing, and that does all of the damage. That's how they know. They've got sensors all over the place, like seismographs, similar to what we have in the U.S. And they also have the DART System, as we call it, where we have sensors on the ocean floor so you can start to detect some of that as well.

As soon as a warning is issued, they're alerted by television, radio, Smartphone, if they have an app for that, yes. And then also factories are alerted and production is halted so that things aren't still operating once the shaking occurs. And also the bullet train, for example, Don, that stopped literally in its tracks. So even though it's just a few second, that could potentially save plenty of lives. It might be enough to let people get under something sturdy or let people get outside and away from some falling debris.

LEMON: All right, Jacqui, stand by. I'm not done with you yet. I want to talk more with you. Jacqui, we'll talk about the weather in Japan and if that affects the possible radioactivity and the reach of radiation. We'll talk about that.

Jacqui's back and so are we.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Back now with our continuing coverage.

To Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras and the weather in Japan. Does that have anything to do, any concern with the spread of radiation, Jacqui?

JERAS: Well, potentially. It's certainly something we'll be watching. The winds have been relatively light today, and that's the good news. We've got a storm system that's approaching and we'll see a shift in the winds. And they're likely going to increase a little bit as well.

Here you can see the storm that we're talking about. It's already Monday morning there today, and that front is going to be approaching, bringing in rain showers. We talk to some of our nuclear experts who tell us that rain could potentially dilute anything that's in the atmosphere a little bit, but then, in turn, it would bring it down to the ground as well.

The cold front is going to be moving through the day. Right now, the wind direction would bring it from the southwest over to the northeast. That would bring everything offshore and over the ocean. Once the cold passes, we'll have a northwesterly wind so that, in turn, does it an opposition direction but still away from the coast. That's the good news certainly out of all of this.

We've also -- if you heard in the past, we've seen weather systems from the west Pacific that have made its way all the way to the United States, remnants of typhoons, we've seen dust from China. Experts are telling us that, at this time, they don't think levels could be anywhere near dangerous. And it would be a very remote chance that that would make it toward the U.S.

The other thing we're watching, too, by the way, Don, are the temperatures. They have been very, very cold, and certainly having an impact with that rain coming in for any type of rescue efforts that are ongoing.

LEMON: Jacqui Jeras, thank you very much.

We want to get you to Japanese television now. They're doing a report. TV Asahi is doing a report on people who had to go to shelters because of this, and there are many of them.

Listen just for a second to get an idea. There we go. There are the anchors right there. They're doing a report. Thousands and thousands of people have had to go to shelters because they have no home, no place to go. Many of the structures have been damaged or just completely gone.

We have information just in to CNN, regarding the radiation that Jacqui was just talking about and also Professor Sjoden from Georgia Tech. This just in. The International Atomic Energy Agency, referred to as the IAEA, said in a statement on Sunday, "Based on information agencies received from officials in Japan, investigators have determined that the radiation levels have returned to normal at the Onagawa Nuclear Plant." The agency said the authorities have concluded that there were no emissions of radiation from the facility's three reactors. Remember the concern about another possible exposure to radiation and that there had been a problem at a nuclear power facility? The IAEA is there on the ground and they're saying that it is -- the concluded no emissions. The current assumption of the Japanese authorities is that the increased level may have been due to a release of radioactive material from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, located about 135 kilometers, 85 miles north of Okinawa, again, according to the IAEA.

Perfect time to bring in Glenn Sjoden from Georgia Tech. He's a professor there and he knows all about this.

What do you make of that new report just released from the IAEA?

GLENN SJODEN, PROFESSOR, GEORGIA TECH: First of all, Don, it's really good news that that plant is secured. The fact that they did record elevated levels that were possibly attributed to the other plant is not out of the question, because the radiation devices that they have to monitor the site boundary are extremely sensitive. So therefore it's not unheard of that they might pick up elevated levels because their threshold to do that is very, very low.

LEMON: So when they do that at this one -- this one is fine at Okinawa, but the Fukushima, that one -- that one is done, correct? It won't go back online as is? They'll have to rebuild?

SJODEN: Once you pump seawater into the plant, it's pretty much going to be retired. There's no way to effectively recertify that reactor vessel when you put that kind of water in there.

LEMON: We're talking about millions and millions of dollars to get a new nuclear power plant back online and operating again now in Japan, which is already devastated.

SJODEN: That's true. There's going be probably a severe power shortage because they rely very heavily on nuclear power. They have 54 nuclear power plants in Japan. So therefore, if they suddenly lose two of them or three of them to having to pump in seawater and reconstitute that plant, you're looking at $3 billion to $5 billion per plant for a new power plant.

The good news is the new power plants, again -- the modern designs are extremely -- these are robust designs but they are even more robust because they're walk-away safe. They set up convection cooling circuit automatically, so therefore there's never an issue with the kind of issue we've had today that we're seeing. We wouldn't have that in a brand-new plant.

LEMON: All right, Glenn Sjoden, stick around. We'll be using you throughout our broadcasts this evening on CNN.

Next up, international reaction and aid to Japan.

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LEMON: As the world becomes aware of Japan's devastation many nations are rushing into action there, sending help and, in some places, citizens are organizing demonstrations in response to a possible nuclear reactor meltdown.

CNN's international editor, Azadeh Ansari, is here to tell us more about it -- Azadeh?

AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK EDITOR: That's right, Don. According to Japanese Kyoto News Agency, there's 69 countries that have sent aid into Japan currently, the U.S. being one of them. Of course, we have South Korea, China. What is interesting is there's a team that arrived today from Christchurch, New Zealand. When they had their devastation happen, and their town is still in shambles right now after their 6.9 earthquake a few weeks ago. This is their way of expending gratitude for the Japanese who responding to their earthquake crisis that happened.

LEMON: Yes, and their crisis is still not over yet.

ANSARI: No, it's not. It's not. And to think that they would actually then offer up their own search and rescue teams to the Japanese, it's really great to see that.

LEMON: Who else is helping? What else is going on?

ANSARI: I wanted to talk about the nuclear reactors. You did talk about this. It's disastrous to see how this situation is -- the way it's unfolding, I should say, at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. And this has really sparked a lot of debate in Europe, because they, over the years, have been a strong proponent of using nuclear energy over fossil fuels. And there was this human anti-nuclear protest that took place and this human chain that spanned like 28 miles yesterday in Germany. We'll see how this plays out going into next week.

LEMON: And that's what I wanted to ask and I'll ask the professor a little bit later on, on CNN. This is going to spark a debate about exactly how safe nuclear plants are.

Azadeh Ansari, from our international desk, international desk editor, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

ANSARI: You're welcome.