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Destruction on Tsunami's Ground Zero; Clock is Ticking to Find Survivors in Japan; Nuclear Meltdown Threat; Celebrity Aid; One American's Survival Story

Aired March 13, 2011 - 20:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Right in the middle of the tsunami as it swept through the streets of Sendai, the city closest to the earthquake epicenter.

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

Just unbelievable images that are coming out of Japan. Many of them not seen since this all started and they are waking up, again, to another day, another day of tragedy.

Look. Craters are opening up in many parts of Japan. Once an active street, now one with a huge crater in the middle. And then there are fields and fields of rubble, places that used to be neighborhoods, now really just rubble flattened.

Those were people's homes at one point. It's now filled with muck and mud.

Reporters, emergency workers are making their way through the streets as best that they can. Many of them are closed. Many of them are filled with water. Many of them are covered in mud.

That's what they're having to deal with. They need more helicopters to get to these people. That's the form of rescue that they have been really doing as much as they can but they need more helicopters. Thousands more, we are told. They just can't go door to door because they don't have access to the roads and they can't get to people's homes.

Many people, days after this quake and tsunami struck, are still being rescued. Several elderly people were rescued from a car. They had spent hours and hours in that car and ended up in a hospital.

Also happening as we speak, rescues from the rubble and the muck, and again, I want you to look now as a group of elderly people were rescued from that car. Again, as the drama unfolded on Japanese television. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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 OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Here's the reality of it, though, not everyone is so fortunate as that elderly woman. One survivor clung to her daughter but in a terrifying instant the ravaging water swept her away.

Just another hellish moment that played out on Japan TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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 OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We hope her daughter is still alive as well.

Throughout most of this broadcast we're going to tell you that we're going to keep Japanese television up in the corner of the screen as it warrants it. The images are coming in so fast and they are unforgettable.

Again we'll keep it up right there in the corner of your screen so that you can see the images coming in.

We want to get to the city, though, that is closest to the epicenter of this earthquake, Sendai. It was also ground zero for the incredible tsunami that followed.

Our Kyung Lah is there following the frantic rescue efforts. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Military helicopters continue the search for the living in the tsunami-ravaged city of Sendai. In this one residential area called Futaki, rescuers are still pulling the injured to safety.

A 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.

A large number of military and search crews finding more dead and fewer living victims as the hours pass.

"Frightening beyond believe," says Hiroki Otomo. "I have no words."

Otomo's mother and uncle are missing and feared dead. They were both home as the tsunami came into Futaki. Otomo's and his father 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.

(On camera): 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 the debris line here is, especially against the white wall of this school. And the power of this tsunami, the doors of this school are completely blown off. And look down the hallway. That's a car.

(Voice-over): Four hundred and 50 students, teachers and workers were in the school when the tsunami warning came. Many managed to escape but the Japanese military says they pulled bodies from the school.

The residents of Futaki started returning home but only briefly. They're carrying out what they could to evacuation centers.

They face challenges on dry land. Little gas, long lines wrapped around a 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We're going to tell you, we're just going to be honest with you. We were hoping to have Kyung Lah by phone but communications, a problem there, as you can imagine. But we do have some developing news that we want to tell you about, and this is being reported from one of our affiliates.

Can we roll the video here? And I'll tell them what we have.

This is at a train station in Tokyo. And here's what we were told, that this morning people showed up and they were told that there were no trains. Commuters were told the trains are not working and they're advised to walk to -- or find buses or taxis.

Again, Monday morning in Tokyo and it shows Shinjuku subway station in Tokyo, the commuters are told the trains are not working and they're advised to walk or find buses or taxis. So this is affecting a big part of that nation, not just in the epicenters, in the area where that happened.

I also want to tell you, as we continue on here, that little box that you see in the corner of your screen, that's one of our affiliates in Japan, and they are reporting on this live -- live broadcasts from TV Asahi and also from another one of our affiliates there.

We'll keep it up as it warrants in this broadcast to bring you the latest pictures coming in to CNN.

This is NHK. NHK in the corner. Also TV Asahi, another affiliate in Japan that we're following very closely here.

Now here's what you need to know if you want to help the victims. They may be without power, they may be missing loved ones, unable to find food or water or just really in grief right now.

If you go to CNN.com/impact, you'll find a list of organizations that are giving aid. CNN.com/impact.

What is the weather in Japan doing right now? How could it affect radiation at its nuclear plants? Can it? We'll ask that question next and get an answer for you.

I'm online. I know you are, too. So make sure you check out our social media counts. Send us your information if you have loved ones or relatives or have some information about what's going on in Japan, we'd love to hear from you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. What is the weather like in Japan? What's the weather in Japan? How would that impact any potential release of radiation, if it does, from those damaged nuclear power plants?

CNN's meteorologist Jacqui Jeras joins us now.

Jacqui, does it have any impact?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it could, absolutely. And the two things that we would be looking at would be wind change in direction, just how strong those winds would be and where it would carry anything that would get into the atmosphere.

And then we'd also be looking about - -for things for rain and what kind of impact that that would have. And unfortunately it looks like we're going to have a little bit of both.

This is our weather system that's on coming through. It's not terribly strong but we do think it's going to bring a significant shift in the wind direction.

Right now winds have been southerly to southwesterly all day and for the most part if anything were to occur, it just brings it right offshore so it hasn't been a terrible concern and the winds have been relatively light as well throughout your Monday.

Now that cold front is going to be moving through late Monday and into Tuesday and then winds will become northwesterly and once again, that is an offshore component, away from these reactors. And that as well is some good news.

But let's talk a little bit about that rain. We think the rain should be coming in late Monday, into early Tuesday but the temperatures are kind of borderline that we could see a little bit of a rain-snow mix. And when we talk about temperatures, the biggest concern on that is going to be what type of an impact that's going to have on rescue workers as well as people that could potentially still be trapped in some of this rubble.

There you can see temperatures only in the middle 40s, we think, for Monday and Tuesday. And with rain coming down, certainly that is a raw, raw cold day for those folks.

And then notice the overnight temperatures. We're looking at below freezing and that's going to last for a couple of days.

Now if people are wet and you get down to temperatures that cold, it can be a concern and there would be potential for things like frostbite as well as hypothermia. So weather conditions certainly not ideal here. Things are a little warmer further south into parts of Tokyo -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Jacqui Jeras, thank you. We appreciate it.

And as morning breaks in quake ravaged Japan, the country is facing not just a long recovery from a harrowing ordeal but also the threat of a possible nuclear meltdown and radiation exposure at damaged nuclear power plants.

Bill Nye, the science guy, more on the disaster and the aftermath. You know him, of course, as the science guy.

So, Bill, here's a question for you. The concern here, of course, the spread of radiation. People are saying what exactly, what exactly is a meltdown? What -- is this going to bring new concern about the danger and the fear behind nuclear energy across the world?

BILL NYE, "THE SCIENCE GUY": Well, this is always a question. People that I've dealt with or interacted with in the nuclear industry insist that their business is very safe. Other organizations, of course, dispute that. But let me just put it in perspective.

By the way, a meltdown is where the nuclear fuel which is nominally or mostly uranium -- uranium is a very heavy metal. The heaviest naturally occurring metal you can come across. And when it gets very, very -- when you get it in the right proportions, the right orientation it gets very, very hot. And you use that heat to generate steam and run a turbine.

Well, in this case apparently it's gotten very, very hot and melted, and this -- and when it melts being on the earth and everything it goes down. And this is the expression meltdown. So apparently there was a partial meltdown in at least one of these reactor facilities.

But just to put it in perspective, if we have, say, 800,000 oil wells around the world, 3500 of those are you r offshore. And when one of them exploded last year, people -- well, just went crazy. People were very, very concerned in the Gulf of Mexico about this one oil well.

Well, if we get to the point with 20,000 nuclear reactors, 30,000 nuclear reactors, there will be more accidents and they -- there will sooner or later be a very, very serious one. And the trouble is, you can't just turn the thing off and let it -- and go back and rebuild it.

When the area becomes radioactive as it did, for example, in Chernobyl, everybody's got to leave -- for decades. It's a much more serious problem than we're all used to.

LEMON: Yes.

NYE: On the other hand, the world has going on seven billion people and they all need energy. So this is a classic example where we need a scientifically literate society, people who understand science.

LEMON: Yes.

NYE: To make decisions about this. And this is a case, Don, where everybody thought they'd anticipated everything that could go wrong at a Japanese nuclear power plant.

LEMON: And not this --

NYE: But they didn't get this tsunami thing.

LEMON: Yes.

Hey, Bill, I have some questions for you but I want to -- we're keeping up Japanese television, our affiliate there. And I just want to tell our viewers some incredible images that are coming in. And you're looking at life now.

Can we take it full just for a second? I'll continue to talk with Bill.

You're looking at life now in Japan. These are people -- really basically they are homeless and they are eating outside on the streets. Many of them are in shelters.

This one woman is in her bath robe standing around a fire to keep warm.

That's life. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): We went inside the building and there were people who were washed away and my parents were also washed away. I can't get in touch with them. We're very worried. Even after dark, you can see the sound of tsunami gushing in. We spent two nights with the local residents, and on Sunday morning, because the tsunami warning was downgraded to advisory, we went down from the hills together with local residents to the central part of the town.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: As you look at those pictures, your heart really has to break. I mean look at that, it's just incredible. These were standing structures and obviously you know Japan, a populous place, and it is just -- as they say, much of it blown to smithereens.

Bill, do you mind if I ask you a couple questions that were sent to me on Twitter as we look at this, about you talking about the nuclear facility? Is that cool?

NYE: Please. Absolutely.

LEMON: OK. Someone says, "Don, you should ask Bill why they have not used liquid nitrogen or has that been asked?"

NYE: Liquid nitrogen to cool it off.

LEMON: Yes.

NYE: Liquid nitrogen is not something you just carry around.

LEMON: Yes.

NYE: I mean when you consider -- a liquid nitrogen, by the way, everybody, is very cold. Minus 196 Celsius. But when you get something that is this hot, the difference between water at, say, room temperature, 20 Celsius or 70 Fahrenheit, and this material, which is at 1500 degrees Celsius or 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit, the difference isn't that big.

Liquid nitrogen is a lot harder to move around than water. And just really, I didn't describe it this way but somebody described it as a "Hail Mary" pass. When you start pumping seawater on top of a nuclear reactor with molten fuel that really is a little bit desperate.

I'm not saying it's not a good idea, it's not the right thing to do. But it shows you just how very serious it is. Now you --

LEMON: One more -- one more question for you, Bill.

NYE: It's just hard to produce liquid nitrogen in that quantity. OK, please. Sorry.

LEMON: OK. One more question. It says, who is pumping seawater into the containment if everyone evacuated 20 kilometers away in order -- in order not to be melted, or please ask Bill Nye who is running the plant, the nuclear plant, if there is a 20-kilometer evacuation zone in order to survive? NYE: Well, my experience with people in the nuclear industry, they take tremendous pride in it, and there's people dressed properly, or as well as they can possibly be dressed, going in there and with pumps and pumping seawater up the way, I believe, akin to the way a fire department would deal with such a thing.

Now these people, my experience, they're very dedicated and they're volunteers and they believe in what they're doing. But if it -- the temperatures get below freezing at night, I can tell you from experience that fighting fires or pumping water or dealing with valves just gets quite difficult.

I've worked in the oil field and you just -- it is just hard to do and you're desperate. This thing is hot. You want to try to save your country, your countrymen. That is a very, very difficult business.

LEMON: Yes.

NYE: I wish everybody the best of luck and I hope we all just stop and think about how dangerous, how much energy we're dealing with, when we have these nuclear plants in these areas that we believe we've thought of everything, but we clearly didn't.

LEMON: Hey, Bill, thank you for joining us.

NYE: Thank you.

LEMON: And thanks for taking those questions. OK? We appreciate it.

Bill Nye, "The Science Guy."

I want to tell you before we talk about what's happening here. Look at these pictures that are coming from our affiliate TV Asahi as they broadcast live. That's what they're reporting.

Look at this reporter standing on top of rubble there.

Of course the people there are going to need a lot of help. A lot of help. Celebrities are using their fame to help with relief efforts in Japan. We're going to talk about that next as we look at this going to break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Each story more horrific than the last. A multi-level catastrophe in Japan is triggering a wave of celebrities trying to use their fame for good.

Japanese-American actor George Takei is one of them. He is one of the latest tweets -- here's one of his latest tweets asking his followers to text $10 to the Red Cross. He said -- you may know him, of course, as Mr. Sulu of the original "Star Trek" series. He's so much more than that. He is a very successful actor and voiceover. And we listen to him on Howard Stern as well.

He's joining us live from Los Angeles.

So tell us first, George, I know you have relatives in Japan. How are they?

GEORGE TAKEI, ACTOR ASKING FOR AID TO JAPAN: My relatives are all fine. I have many friends there and they're all fine, too. However, when you see those pictures on your TV screens, it is catastrophic and as just a human being, you've got to reach out.

I tweeted that on Friday morning that when you see something like this at a time like this, we are all Japanese.

LEMON: Yes. I saw that tweet. Following on Twitter and I saw that and a lot of people re-tweeted. And it's -- you know, it was very poignant.

What has been the response, though, to your pleas for people to donate? I understand social media has been particularly helpful in this.

TAKEI: Social media -- network has been fantastic. There have been hundreds -- I think thousands, 8,500 people have contributed to the Red Cross as a result of my tweet and then they've been tweeting back to me that from Germany, from Britain, as well as from other parts. But a huge number from Germany and Britain.

I'm very grateful to them. It's so important when you see human tragedy like this. But for a long time I've been working on strengthening U.S.-Japan relations. I was President Clinton's appointee on the U.S.-Japan friendship commission and when I was chairman of the Japanese-American national Museum, we sent an exhibit to tour for two years there in Japan.

And so my connection with Japan is very strong. Despite the fact that, thank god, my friends and relatives are all right.

LEMON: Yes.

TAKEI: I'm very moved by those pictures. It's catastrophic.

LEMON: Hey, listen, let's talk about this. You were honored by the emperor of Japan in 2004 for your contribution to Japanese and U.S. relations. There is a picture of you right there with your medal. I think the medal is a little low so you can't see it. It's below the banner.

Have you heard how other Japanese-American celebrities are contributing to this recent disaster?

TAKEI: I'm sure they are, but I don't know what they're doing. I know that Yoko Ono has tweeted and certainly she's from Japan and she has very real connections to Japan.

I was born here. My mother was born here but nevertheless, you know, I have strong connections. I went to a university there in Japan with many other international people. So I'm very moved as a human being but also beyond that as someone who has had the strong ties with Japan.

LEMON: All right. Hey, George, stick around.

I want to tell people, if you want to follow him on Twitter and you want to help donate, it's @George, common spelling, T-A-K-E-I, @George, T-A-K-E-I on Twitter.

George, stick around because it's not just famous Japanese-Americans asking for donations to Japan. The list of celebrities calling for donations growing.

Our Alan Duke has been tracking the pleas from Tinseltown.

So, Alan, you heard what George is doing on Twitter. Lady Gaga is actually selling jewelry for Japan. I understand Justin Bieber is doing something as well. And the list keeps growing.

ALAN DUKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's all part of this organized effort that the American Red Cross has. I found out just today that they've gotten more than 40 celebrities on this sort of emergency panel that they have.

And as soon as the quake happened in Japan, they sent messages out to them all to use their social networks especially Twitter to send these warnings out, be prepared, a tsunami might be on the way.

Lady Gaga has responded quickly. "Pray for Japan," is what it says on her bracelet that she's selling. $5 for each of these bracelets, these wristbands online. She's selling them on her Web site. The money going for Japan earthquake relief.

There's also other things that are being sold online. The guitarist for Linkin Park, Mike Shinota. I believe I got his name right. He designed a t-shirt that's going on sale I think tomorrow. And the money is being given to them.

But we've had all kinds of tweets out there. But it's actually an organized effort by the American Red Cross, including Conan O'Brien who has I think more than two million Twitter followers, put out a message to send a text message donation, a $10 text message donation that you can do with your telephone.

He was followed by Katy Perry who also did that. And P. Diddy, Sean "Puffy" Combs, sent out a similar message.

And guess what? I just found out that the earthquake relief effort for the American Red Cross and what -- has raised $1.1 million just in those text messages.

Music for Relief. That's the Linkin Park effort. Their group has been helping out in disasters for years now and they've started up a special disaster relief fund for the earthquake victims.

And all of this money will add up. This is very early in the effort.

Now I've been asked, is there a group effort? Is there going to be a big concert, an event? I'm told by a Red Cross spokesman that if that happens, it would probably come to fruition and be announced in the next few days.

LEMON: OK. Hey, Alan, I want to bring George back in.

Alan, stick around because I want both of you to weigh in on this.

George, what do you think? Do you think that there will be a groundswell and there will be a telethon or relief effort much like Haiti and also Banda Ache? And would you -- would you welcome that? Would you want people to do something like that?

TAKEI: Absolutely I would welcome that. As a matter of fact, it is happening already. It's been really apocalyptic. First the earthquake, and that's what prompted me to tweet Friday morning. But then that's followed by the tsunami which it was horrific. And then now the threat of nuclear meltdown.

I -- so, you know, I think it's going to get even bigger and bigger than what we see right now in terms of bringing relief and aid. It's wintertime and it's bitterly cold and this is northern Japan, so it is even colder than Tokyo. So their support and their relief contributions are desperately needed.

LEMON: George Takei, thank you very much.

Alan Duke, thank you as well. We appreciate it.

And if you want to help out people in Japan, just go to CNN.com/impact. Again, CNN.com/impact. And you can find out information about the American Red Cross, the efforts there, and you can donate as well.

Next up here on CNN, we'll talk to an American living in Tokyo who's worried about nuclear threats. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone.

New video in to CNN. This is from our affiliate, TV Asahi. TV Asahi. Let me tell you what's going on here. This is a town of Minami Sanriku? The reporter is talking in this video. That's a hospital right there.

The reporter is saying in this video houses and business buildings are gone. Just the rubble left over.

Is there any sound on this? We can hear a little bit of it? There we go. The big -- it's in Japanese but let's listen to it because we'll tell them what the reporter is saying. The big grayish building is still standing but badly damaged is a hospital just 100 meters from the seashore.

Again this is what a reporter is reporting in this new video from TV Asahi, our affiliate there. But it is badly damaged. A hundred meters from the seashore. Protruding above the hospital is a blue sign that belongs to a shopping center, obscured behind the hospital.

And the reporter is saying in this that the blue sign four floors high was barely visible when the tsunami wave swept over the area.

Again, look at this area completely damaged. This is a business area. And these were all standing buildings. It was a highly populous area and that is new video in from our affiliate TV Asahi.

Let's tell you the bad news right now. It really is bad news. It could have been worse. The death toll has risen to nearly 1600 people. Nearly 1500 others are now listed as missing and more than 1900 people are injured.

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

Officials are assuming that 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, no power. Still. The country's electric power company is conducting rolling power outages in three-hour intervals to keep up with the strong demand. And now this power company, the nuclear facility, is down.

Japan's foreign ministry says 69 governments are offering help. The U.S. has sent warships. The U.S. has sent supplies. Search and rescue teams and two experts on nuclear reactors to check out that nuclear power plant.

And as if there weren't enough problems, now there's a volcano to worry about. Did you hear this? It erupted today on an island in the southwest part of Japan, sending a huge plume of smoke and ash into the air.

It is almost 1,000 miles from the epicenter of the quake, though, and it is not clear whether the two are connected.

You know we've given you the latest news from Japan. Now here's what you need to know. If you want to help the victims there, and we're going to put this up as much as possible because they need help. They don't have power, water, no loved ones, no water, no food. Really, it's devastating.

Go to CNN.com/impact, CNN.com/impact, and you'll find a list of organizations that are giving aid. You can help out as well.

What's it like to be an American living in Tokyo today? For Deb Wenig and her husband, she says it's is important to remember that, in her words, the sky isn't falling. She has enough food, though there are shortages on the store shelves. And the nuclear threat still worries her, though. But Deb says she's going to stay put and she joins us now from Tokyo.

How you doing, Deb?

DEB WENIG, AMERICAN LIVING IN TOKYO: Good. And how are you, Don?

LEMON: I'm doing great. What do you mean the sky isn't falling? Explain your words.

WENIG: Well, yesterday my husband and I went out and about in to -- we live right in central Tokyo in (INAUDIBLE) and we went out and about. We did a little shopping because we thought we should. And it was nice.

The weather was gorgeous and it was great to see people out in the streets having coffee at Starbucks and just, you know, enjoying the beautiful day and trying to -- as someone said earlier on your program, as human nature makes you want to do, get back to that sense of normalcy that things go on, life does go on.

LEMON: Yes. But you're still in the midst of a calamity there, in the midst of a tragedy and you --

WENIG: No question.

LEMON: Yes.

WENIG: Absolutely.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And even in Tokyo --

WENIG: You know, we're seeing all the videos and all the pictures and it's really very sad for all of us.

LEMON: Yes. We're looking at pictures now. We're also monitoring our affiliates live in Japan as well. And it's just -- as the new video comes in it's just really devastating. It gets -- it appears to get worse and worse and worse as the days go on because they're finding new areas that have been hit by the tsunami and the earthquake, Deb.

So --

WENIG: Right.

LEMON: Describe to us your experience when the quake hit.

WENIG: I was actually at the Tokyo American Club which is just about a 15-minute walk from my house. That was a good thing. And we -- I was upstairs on the second floor and we felt the building start to shake and so we immediately hunkered down, squatted down in a doorway, and when the first big wave was done, we immediately exited the building out into the parking lot where we actually stood for about 45 minutes or so until the subsequent large after shakes -- aftershocks were done. And then we went back into the building.

The building, you should know, is brand-new in January and so I was very happy to be there and frankly not on the 25th floor of my apartment where I live.

LEMON: I would imagine that. I'm sure your relatives have all heard from you and they know you're OK because you're now on CNN and they can see it.

What concerns you the most though, Deb?

WENIG: Right now I think, you know, just to kind of give you a little rundown what it's like here in Tokyo, metros are very sporadic so -- and gas is being limited. So, you know, getting around the city is a little bit more difficult right now.

Luckily, again, living in the center of the city you can walk pretty much anywhere you need to go. And one of the things that, you know, we found yesterday were things like milk, bread and eggs, the basic staples that, you know, the northeast -- everybody goes out and gets those staples on a snowstorm.

So it was really no different here from there. So one of the things that we're going to look for this week starting today is really how are the transportation systems going to be to be able to get deliveries in to restock those shelves that are now empty, devoid of some of the products.

I'm personally OK because if I have a large American refrigerator and it's well-stocked. But you know I think others who maybe rely on daily or, you know, weekly excursions to the store are probably going to be a little bit more concerned about that.

I'm also monitoring the nuclear reactors very closely, but I'm very satisfied that things are fine on that front and that everything possible is being done to safeguard the people here.

LEMON: All right. Deb Wenig, thank you so much. We appreciate you joining us. Stay safe, best of luck to you.

WENIG: All right, thank you very much.

LEMON: All right.

I want to go to some developing news now. New video in to CNN. And you're going to see it just as I'm seeing it. And I have not seen it so let's both look at it together and -- you can't help me but my producers will help me through it.

This is a tremor. And I'm being told this is as -- it was caught on camera as it was happening. You can see the concrete, the asphalt, look at it. It's moving and separating. And you can hear the alarms going off.

You heard Jacqui Jeras talk about the early quake warning system and tsunami warning system in Japan. But again, this is a video, new video in to CNN, from NHK.

Let's listen and look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): Local people urged us to flee because tsunami will be coming and we rose to a higher place.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And again that is video just in. And we're monitoring our affiliates in Japan because new video like this is coming in moment by moment by moment.

Can we take NHK? This is the new video here. Let's go to NHK live. Look at that as well. You could see similar video happening that is being reported live. Look at the one that's live on NHK now.

Reporting the same video that is just in to us. So again, all of this is coming in and it comes in moment by moment because as we have been reporting they're waking up each day to find new areas of destruction, new places that have been hit that they didn't know about as people venture further away from the epicenter.

Life in Japan now for many is just filled with sadness because they are homeless. They are living in shelters. Many of them.

Look at the water rushing there. We can't see these images enough as they were happening. And you wonder why all these buildings fell? Why those streets were opening up? Why people are homeless now? It's because of this, the power of this storm.

One of the saddest things I heard was the story of the mother who was holding on to her little girl, holding her little girl's hand for dear life and she said the power of the water was just much too strong and her little girl was swept away in the current and she has not seen her since and she's hoping her little girl is still alive.

And then an elderly gentleman and his wife who got stuck in the current. They went to a roof for shelter but the wife somehow got lost in the water and she died but he did survive and they just rescued him today three days after this happened.

There we go. People who are -- who are really homeless in their bath robes and getting warmed by fires outside.

Live coverage of the earthquake and tsunami disaster on CNN continues after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Welcome back.

New video again in to CNN. This is from our affiliate in Japan, NHK. Look at these cargo containers just strewn about this parking lot and you can imagine, this was filled with water. But again, new video that's just coming in to CNN, coming in to our affiliate in Japan. We are monitoring them live.

Look at that. Have you ever seen anything? Doesn't look real, does it?

And you know with all the heart-rending images we're seeing of loss and tragedy in Japan, we're also seeing incredible stories of bravery and survival. The tsunami's high waters nearly swept one woman in the quake zone to her death and tore her daughter from her side.

Watch and listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A woman was rescued by Self Defense Force personnel. This woman thanks the Self Defense Force troop and says she is all right.

The woman said she had been waiting for help all night outside. The woman says she had been washed away by the wave. Asked if she was outside, she says that the moment she opened the door of her house the water flooded in.

She says that there happened to be a tree nearby so she struggled and grabbed the tree to prevent herself from sinking under the water. She hung on to the tree with the water all around her.

She says she hung on for dear life and then a Tatami floor mat drifted near her so she got on the Tatami floor mat and floated around and around in the water completely helpless. She drifted around the houses and found herself washed near the school. She says her daughter was washed away with her but has not been found.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Several CNN viewers in Japan managed to capture the first terrible moments of the earthquake on their video cameras. We put a few of those iReports together. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRISON PAYTON, CNN IREPORTER FROM JAPAN: That is the biggest earthquake to date.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN IREPORTER FROM JAPAN: We have earthquake right now and this is actually moving. You see the cracks moving? The crack is just moving. There's water -- I don't know if water lines are broken? But this water was not there a minute ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): We will do our best to try to rescue all survivors and people who are isolated, especially today, because every minute counts.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The blast at the Fukushima number one nuclear power plant occurred at around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The two pictures you are seeing at the moment are of the plant before the blast and after the blast. And in the lower one circled, you can see that some of the outer wall has fallen down.

YUKIO EDANO, JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY (Through Translator): I will repeat again, this was not caused by the nuclear reactor and there was no harmful gas emitted by this explosion. And the radiation level has not changed since the explosion.

RYAN MCDONALD, SURVIVED JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE: The biggest problem right now we have is there's no food anywhere. All the convenience stores are closed. The grocery stores are closed so everyone is on the road trying to find something open and it's just gridlock everywhere.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. CNN's special coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan continues next with Anderson Cooper.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)