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Second Explosion Hits Nuke Plant; Pro-Gadhafi Forces Advances in Libya; Japan's Nikkei Plunges

Aired March 14, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to our continuing coverage of the disaster in Japan. I'm Carol Costello, sitting in for Kyra Phillips.

Here are some of the fast moving developments we're following. This morning, fears of a nuclear meltdown are growing as more problems plague a damaged nuclear plant. A second reactor has lost its cooling ability after another explosion earlier today. A 12-mile area has now been evacuated, but Japan says the amount of radiation leak is still small.

The U.S. Navy, though, is repositioning its ships and planes away from the plant after low levels of radiation were found on some crew members. They had taken part in a helicopter relief mission.

In the meantime, the death toll continues to rise. Japan's government now says there are more than 1,800 confirmed deaths. But one news agency is reporting that 2,000 bodies have been found in a coastal area.

There are at least 2,300 people still missing in Japan, that's according to the national police there. The true number is probably much higher, but with all this ruin and loss, some loved ones have found one another, reunited after days of worry and uncertainty.

(VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: A happy moment for this family, but for others, the disaster zone has become a virtual purgatory of waiting and hoping that loved ones would turn up safe and sound. Thousands of people, as I said, are missing and information may be even more scarce than food and water.

CNN's Soledad O'Brien spoke to one man who tracked down some family members who survived the ordeal, but he's still searching for others.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does he think happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He thinks that perhaps they are somewhere safe (INAUDIBLE) evacuation.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What makes him have no doubt?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): So a different -- he did find her over at a different evacuation center this morning. That's why he feels there's no doubt he's going to find the two that are missing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well, we apologize for the lack of translation on that one. But that man is still searching for friends who are still missing.

CNN correspondents and their teams are in place all across Japan, gathering the latest information on this rapidly-developing story. You'll be hearing from them throughout the day.

A new explosion at an already damaged nuclear plant has Japan and the world on edge this morning. It is the second blast at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in three days. This video is from Saturday's blast, part of the plant's critical cooling system is crippled. We now understand the fuel rods were exposed at reactor number two, and that's dangerous because as you might expect, it could mean big problems down the road as far as a possible meltdown or partial meltdown.

Stan Grant is live in Tokyo, about 200 miles from Sendai. So, Stan, what happened when these fuel rods were exposed?

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is really critical, Carol. Because what happens here is the water level drops, the fuel rod is exposed, and it overheats. That's what leads to these fears about a meltdown. Now, according to government officials here, they cannot rule out the possibility of a meltdown or at least a partial meltdown in all three of these reactors. And that's because they've been unable to cool the reactors.

Now you recalled that in the numbers one and three reactors that have been having this problem, and then there was this hydrogen explosion, actually, in the number three reactor today, which blew out part of a wall and part of the roof of the building housing the reactor. It also then knocked out the cooling system to reactor number two. So now you have three reactors suffering this cooling problem and a potential, or a possible meltdown or partial meltdown.

Now what does this mean? If you have a meltdown, some of that radioactive material can seep into the atmosphere. And they had detected that in recent days, although they say that those levels have been decreasing. By the same token, they've established an exclusion zone of about 12 or 13 miles and evacuated 200,000 people from the scene, some of whom have come into contact with radiation and are being tested for that, Carol.

COSTELLO: Stan, let me ask you about the "USS Ronald Reagan." Because the U.S. ship is now repositioning itself, it's moving farther away because it's afraid of these radiation levels. So it seems like the problem may be getting worse. Or is that just a precautionary action?

GRANT: No, and you're talking about ships that were 100 kilometers 60 miles northwest of this stricken plant. Now, what happened there is that they detected levels of radiation, low levels of radiation in the atmosphere. And, in fact, a number of crew men actually came in contact with that radiation.

Now, this radiation has not been enough to cause any physical harm, but the fact that it exists at all there and it is in the atmosphere is the indication of the level of concern. Now, they've had to -- that entire fleet have had to redirect themselves away as a precautionary measure in the same way that people have been evacuated from the homes around this plant, as well.

When you hear words like meltdown, when you hear about radiation in the atmosphere, when you hear about explosions. Despite the reassurances from the government that everything is in place and the safeguards will work and the levels and the risk is low, it does breed that fear and uncertainty. Carol.

COSTELLO: Because, frankly, there's no sure way to know what's coming out of those nuclear facilities.

GRANT: Well, they are able to measure it. And what happens here is you have varying degrees of radiation. Inside the core reactor itself, there is uranium and also other byproducts of uranium. Cesium, for instance, which is one of the things that they've detected in the atmosphere.

COSTELLO: And iodine.

GRANT: -- in small amounts. Outside the core reactor itself and the steam that's often released -- and iodine, exactly. Now outside of the reactor and the steam that's released, there is also radioactive materials, but less harmful. This breaks down a lot more quickly. The government has stressed, though, the radiation levels have been steadily coming down in recent days. But when you have ongoing crisis like this, when you have more steam being released into the atmosphere, then those radiation levels are going to have to be tested again and possibly we could see a spike in them.

COSTELLO: All right. Stan Grant, live from Tokyo. Thank you so much.

American troops off of Japan's shore have been exposed to radiation, at least 17 U.S. Navy helicopter crew members had to be treated for it. Now part of the American fleet has moved farther out to sea. I was talking about that to Stan just a moment ago. They reportedly, the "USS Ronald Reagan" reportedly headed through a radioactive cloud.

Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joining us live now. So Chris, do you have any word from the Pentagon about exactly what happened?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we do, Carol. Basically they were in this aircraft, and the aircraft flew through a radioactive plume. And they have -- these helicopters are equipped with air particle detectors. So they can sense when an aircraft have been exposed to radiation. They found out that about 17 of the crew members were exposed. They came back onboard. They were searched with the hand sensors, and then they were soaked down with soap and water to wash off the radiation. Almost all of them have the radiation on their clothes.

One of the crew members did have the radiation on his skin. But after they were all cleaned and the clothes were discarded, they went back and did the radiation sensors again, and none of them were found to have any more radiation on them. But they have, you know, as you were talking to Stan about taking some precautions, moving out of the downwind portion of that nuclear plant. They've also temporarily halted some of the helicopter flights until they can come up with a strategy in which they may be able to, you know, mitigate some of the damage or some of the potential risks to some of these crew members.

COSTELLO: So after these -- these 17 Navy pilots were exposed, were their families notified? Can you put some perspective -- go ahead.

LAWRENCE: They were. The "USS Ronald Reagan" immediately posted something on Facebook to let the families know what had happened, what they were exposed to. They tried to put it in terms that families could understand. That these crew members were exposed to about the radiation that you or I would get in a month from normal background radiation from the sun, from the earth that we're all exposed to. But they received about a month's worth just in this short amount of time. But it's not -- not something to the affect that would cause poisoning or anything like that.

COSTELLO: That's the best news out of this. Thank you so much. Chris Lawrence reporting live from the Pentagon.

First the quake, then the tsunami, now the fear of a nuclear crisis, many residents of the northeast part of the country are reportedly near panic fearing radiation poisoning.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is on the ground at a refugee camp in Shiogama City, Japan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: One of the big concerns the thyroid gland in particular can take up this radioactive iodine. So this is sort of a simple, yet important concept is that if you give a stable iodine, in this case, potassium iodide, you're sort of flooding the thyroid gland with a stable component and even if there is an exposure to this radioactive element, it doesn't get taken up by the thyroid because the thyroid is all full of normal stable iodide. That's sort of the theory here. It seems to work pretty well. It's just simple iodide tablets, potassium iodide tablets.

Now, that's not going to work after someone's already been exposed. That's not going to necessarily protect people against other effects of radiation poisoning, and that's not going to obviously protect them against some of the acute effects, the nausea, the vomiting, the skin changes, the affects on the bone marrow. But again, this is something that seems to be pretty effective against one of the most disastrous potential complications due to radiation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

The full scope of this disaster still hard to grasp three days later, but it's coming more into focus this morning as images of utter devastation pour into our newsroom, more every hour. The incredible force of the quake, tsunami, aftershocks evident just by looking at the aftermath.

Our Soledad O'Brien is live at a town about an hour outside of Sendai.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (on camera): I think the thing that never ceases to amaze you is really the power of a natural disaster like a tsunami. I mean take a look at this. This building right here, the white one, it's an apartment building. It's actually standing pretty well. But look at this one here. This is a house that's completely collapsed. And remarkably this house actually wasn't here before the tsunami hit. It came out of this big open space back here and actually just floated up with the force of the water. I mean, it's amazing.

Most of the people who live here are fishermen and rice farmers. Some of them elderly. And now they say with the destruction, they really don't know what they're going to do because as you can see, even with a house like this inside, even though structurally a real testament to the Japanese architecture with the mind to earthquakes. Structurally it's held up very well. Inside it's a complete and total loss. So the farmers we've spoken to say that -- well, some are insured. They're not really sure at this point what exactly they can do.

They said when the earthquake happened it was so severe on the hands and knees because it was shaking so hard that an alarm went off, which was an indication that a tsunami was on the way. So hightailed over to an elementary school, went up to the roof, several hundred people. And then at that point, they basically waited and within 30 minutes the tsunami had come through. And you can see, and (INAUDIBLE), if you pan out that way, you can just see the complete and total loss that just goes on and on for about as far as you can see. What will happen to this community? It's really unclear. But certainly for the homes here, most of it's just gone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Soledad O'Brien near Sendai, Japan.

Troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi are making advances against opposition forces. Coming up next, we'll update you on the fighting and we plan to bring you a live report from Libya.

The stock market in Tokyo reopened today. We'll also tell you if the earthquake is rattling the markets there and on Wall Street.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In the wake of Japan's earthquake and devastating tsunami, thousands are missing, and among them is American Michelle Paul and her American parents. Michelle went to Japan to teach English. Her parents went to help her to get settled. Danielle Poulin is on the phone from Boston. And Danielle, thank you for joining us.

DANIELLE POULIN, FAMILY MEMBERS MISSING IN JAPAN (ON THE PHONE): Thank you.

COSTELLO: This is your cousin and your aunt and uncle. When did you last hear from them?

POULIN: We last heard from them on Thursday before the tsunami.

COSTELLO: And what did they say to you?

POULIN: Actually, we had just been reading their Facebook posts, and we received an e-mail that they had felt some of the shakes. They were having a great trip in Japan and you know, seems to be in great spirits, despite some of the tremors happening in the country.

COSTELLO: And what city were they in?

POULIN: They were in Matsushima.

COSTELLO: So that's the danger zone. And I understand -- were they all on a ferry going somewhere?

POULIN: No, they were not. They were actually staying at a hotel and they were actually going to be taking a ferry the next night, obviously, the ferry didn't leave, we would assume. But we haven't heard from them, our contacts in Japan can't get a hold of them. It's been very broken communication.

COSTELLO: Right. It's been very hard to get cell phone service out of Japan right now. Are there any resources that you're using to try to find them?

POULIN: Absolutely. We have been -- the best have been social networking. Facebook and Twitter have been great. We've also contacted the State Department, the Red Cross, just any family and friends we may have there. Google Person Finder. We've pretty much used all the sources we can think of. We're not stopping there.

COSTELLO: Is the U.S. government helping you?

POULIN: We have not heard from them, but again, I don't think that's not that they don't want to help, it's just that they don't have any information for us either. COSTELLO: Do you have any idea at all if the hotel is still standing?

POULIN: We do not. But I am very hopeful that they're OK, that communication is just broken, they haven't been able to get in touch with us.

COSTELLO: So when they were feeling the shakes, when exactly was that?

POULIN: That was actually on Thursday they started to, you know, they said they were walking along the bay and kind of felt, you know, smaller earthquakes, but that was before the big one happened, though.

COSTELLO: And I understand that there's a younger sister involved. She's still here in the United States. Her parents and her sister. How is she holding up?

POULIN: You know, she's a strong girl, and she's very -- we have a strong family and we've been keeping in touch. But certainly difficult for her. But she's definitely not alone in the struggle.

COSTELLO: Well, Danielle, thanks so much. We'll be praying.

POULIN: Thank you, we appreciate it.

COSTELLO: Turning to another developing story now. The ongoing civil war in Libya. Libyan state TV is reporting that forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi are now in control of the town of Al Brega. This follows the re-taking of towns like Bin Jawad and the oil point of Ras Lanuf. Opposition leaders are calling their force exit from Al Brega, "a tactical retreat."

Besides the military offensive, the Gadhafi regime is continuing its diplomatic counter offensive. The foreign ministry is denouncing the Arab League's backing of a no-fly zone to protect Libyan civilians. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting with counterparts from other G-8 nations in Paris today to discuss that no-fly option. I want to get more on the situation in Libya, so let's head to our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. He's in Tripoli. So the opposition has lost ground? Bring us up to speed, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On Saturday, we were taken to Bin Jawad and Ras Lanuf oil refinery. There was a large fire at one of the oil tanks, storage tanks at Ras Lanuf. And what we could see was anything but the evidence of a tactical withdrawal by the rebels. There was plenty of spent artillery boxes and cases at the side of the road, but plenty of damage and destroyed what looked like rebel forces military equipment at the side of the road.

The government here has been playing on state television pictures from Brega today. This is the very sort of large and important town because it's got so many of the country's gas and oil pipelines running into it. And the government now says it has control of that town. And that will be important for the government because really there's only one oil and gas pipeline further west in the country they would really want to take control of.

Militarily, they say they're going to go on to the next town, Ajdabiyah. They say when they get that town, then they're going to start putting pressure on Benghazi, but they wouldn't try and enter it, they say, militarily because there are too many civilians living there. But the picture that's emerging from here, the rebel advance of last week has now been pushed back and the government does seem to be now in control of this very important oil facility towns, Carol.

COSTELLO: Nic Robertson, reporting live from Tripoli. Thanks so much.

The earthquake in Japan is rattling the financial markets. The Tokyo Stock Market reopened today and it wasn't pretty. Alison Kosik is in New York. Hi, Alison, what happened.

We're going to go to Alison after the break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Long lines are forming as people all over Japan began to feel a pinch of a shortage of gasoline. Here's i-reporter Gabriel Rodriguez in Oklahoma, in Yokohama, I should say. I apologize. Here's she is earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ, IREPORTER: I saw the same thing a few stops, few lights back, and it was the same situation where 40 or 50 cars lined up just waiting for gas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Last Friday's quake sparked fires at several oil refineries in the disaster zone. Others have suspended operations. This is contributed to a shortage of gasoline, diesel, and other petroleum products in Tokyo and elsewhere across the country.

In the meantime, Japan's main stock market got slammed today. The Nikkei opened for business and investors immediately hit the sell button. Stocks fell six percent. Alison Kosik is following that from Wall Street. And you know, Alison, I'm wondering, the stock exchange is sometimes, you know, temporarily close if there's a major disaster, so why didn't Japan's?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You're right. They do. For Japan, Carol, you know, it's a matter of necessity. And sure, financial markets do close. We saw that after 9/11, the NYSE right here, closed here. But you have to remember, Wall Street is right around the corner from where the trade center was. The markets just couldn't function in that case.

But in this case, Tokyo is still functioning, it's the financial center of Japan. And the fact of the matter is the country needs access to liquidity and getting money where it needs to go to start the rebuilding process. Even the Bank of Japan announced it's pumping $60 billion into the economy. It's buying up risky assets like bonds and real estate, just to keep money flowing, to make sure banks have enough cash on hand, just in case panicky investors come in and want to withdraw their money all at once.

Also, opening the exchange right after something so devastating winds up building confidence, Carol. It promotes lending to businesses and encourages businesses to go ahead and start the rebuilding process.

COSTELLO: And just a little bit about the Japanese culture, how much does the pride -- does pride factor into the decision to keep the exchange open?

KOSIK: And you're right about that, Carol, pride definitely factors in. You know, you think about it. Stock exchanges in any country, they're a beacon, they're a sign of capitalism and power. And analysts are saying that Japan at this point doesn't want to look weak financially. You know, it wants to show it can move on quickly from something so devastating and that it does have backup plans to keep functioning. And it wants to send the world an important message.

It's still the third biggest economy. It's still a superpower, especially since over the past decade China has gained ground kicking Japan out of second place. So they're still kind of battling it out for second place. So Japan really wants to show that it's resilient even in the face of its worst crisis since World War II. Carol.

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik live in New York, thanks.

Time is running out for trapped survivors, but help is on the way. U.S. search and rescue teams among those international teams heading out to dig through the rubble. And our crews are with them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is half past the hour, and time for the latest headlines coming out of Japan's disaster zone. This morning, fears of a possible nuclear meltdown are growing. A third cooling system has failed at the damaged nuclear plant. Officials think it was caused by this morning's explosion. The second explosion in three days. As of now, there is no significant leak of radiation, at least according to authorities in Japan. Japan's government confirms more than 1,800 dead, but the number of death is certain to climb. One Japanese news agency reports some 2,000 bodies found in a coastal community devastated by the tsunami.

And just a short time ago, Japan implemented its first rolling blackout. It's all part of an effort to reduce the strain on a damaged power grid. Downtown Tokyo is not included, but 45 million people will be affected. The blackouts will last up to six hours a night and extend into early April. No matter how you measure the devastation, its scope is mind- boggling. Thousands are dead; entire coastal communities in northern Japan are washed away. But there are miracles, survivors, and they're sharing their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Somebody showed it, the tsunami was coming, and it was just an instant. Yes, it all took place in an instant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I felt so cold in the water. I tried to get out, but my clothes were caught on something in the rubble. I thought I was dying when I was pushed in the water. For my folks, for my family, I decided to make every effort to survive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm looking for my daughter. Our home is gone, so she wouldn't know where to go. As other family members are safe, I only hope my daughter is alive somewhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, it's been three days since disaster struck in Japan. And doctors say the first 72 hours are critical for finding survivors lost in the rubble. After that, hope begins to fade.

But there are people who do beat the odds. After the Haiti quake in January of last year, search and rescue teams were still finding survivors more than a week after it hit. So, right now U.S. search and rescue teams are on their way to some of Japan's most devastated regions. And our Brian Todd is with some of those team members. He's in Ofunato, Japan. Brian, have they been able to go out and start search and rescue operations?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, they have not yet been able to go out in Ofunato. It's been a point of frustration for them, but they realized this operation has moved as fast as it could. Still not fast enough for these teams. They're very good at trying to extract people from the rubble. And they have a good track record of doing it, as you mentioned, in Haiti, in Turkey, and other places.

But so far have not been able to get into the city yet because of the massive logistical operation that this involves. You see these crates on flatbed trucks right behind me. They've had to pull more than 60 tons of gear, 150 personnel, 12 canine teams, eight inflatable boats halfway around the world. And to do that, of course, it just takes time. They've gone as fast as they possibly could. The State Department's armed USAID has worked with these teams to get all the logistics in place.

They've have to bring so much material here because they've got to be a self-contained unit for at least two weeks in a zone that has no electricity, no running water. They've got to be able to live right at the site and fan out and come back to their base of operations working 12-hour shifts -- 12 on, 12 off for each member of these teams. They have not been able to go out yet, but Carol, they will be doing it in the coming hours.

COSTELLO: And because there was a tsunami, how does that complicate their mission?

TODD: It complicates it a great deal. As you know and as some of our other reporters have been saying for the last few days, the fact there was such a devastating tsunami after the devastating earthquake makes their job a lot harder. These rescuers are going to have to sift through mud, a lot of water.

They've brought eight inflatable boats for swift-water rescue. They're very good at this kind of thing. They can get into areas where some other teams may not be able to get into. So, that's an advantage. But again, because there was a tsunami after this earthquake, the odds are reduced for finding survivors.

But it's not impossible. People have been known to survive. They were pulling people out of the rubble after Haiti and after some of these earthquakes as late as a week or even later after the quake struck. So, these people are very resolute. They don't give up easily, and they're not going to now. They're in place and they're ready to stay here for quite some time.

COSTELLO: All right. We'll keep following their mission. I know how courageous they are and how strong-willed. And I know how much they're eager to get out there and start their mission.

Brian Todd, reporting live from Japan. Thanks so much.

Residents in central Oklahoma are cleaning up and rebuilding. A devastating fire ripped through a number of counties there. A look at stories "Cross Country," next.

The president is now speaking at a middle school in Arlington, Virginia. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, thank our principal, Mr. -- Dr. John Worth. Doctor.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Superintendent of the Arlington public schools, Patrick Murphy.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I believe that the Arlington County School Board is represented here. Where are they? There they are over there. All doing great work.

We've got your own Congressman Jim Moran here in the house.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And we've got somebody who I believe is going to go down as the finest secretary of education we've ever had, Arne Duncan.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Now, before I begin, let me just say that like all Americans, I continue to be heartbroken by the images of devastation in Japan. And I know all of you, young and old, have been watching the full magnitude of this tragedy unfold.

I want to reiterate America's support for the people of Japan, who are some of our closest friends and allies. And I've said directly to the prime minister of Japan, Prime Minister Kan, that the United States will continue to offer any assistance we can as Japan recovers from multiple disasters. And we will stand with the people of Japan in the difficult days ahead.

Now, I just had a chance to talk with some of your teachers as well as some students who told me about your all-school project that's weaving the life and music of Duke Ellington into your classes. By getting students engaged in learning, you're teaching the kinds of skills about how to think and how to work together that young people are going to need in college and beyond.

COSTELLO: And we're going to back out of this now as the president -- well, his original intent was to talk about education. We'll get to that later. But as you heard the president say about Japan that the United States will continue to offer Japan any assistance it can. It stands with the people of Japan.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: I'm going to bring you up to speed on a few other stories making headlines this morning.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley has resigned. The move follows Crowley's criticism of the Defense Department's handling of the Bradley Manning case. Manning is the Army private who allegedly leaked classified information to Wikileaks.

The company involved in a fatal bus crash in New York has been in two other crashes with injuries in the last two years. At least 14 people died Saturday when a Worldwide Travel bus crashed coming back from a casino. Investigators are looking at casino video to check on the driver's actions before the accident.

Wildfires that have swept across central Oklahoma are now contained. Forty homes have been destroyed, though. No reported deaths, but it's not known how many people were injured.

Seventeen U.S. service members have been exposed to low levels of radiation during search and rescue efforts in Japan. So, with the threat of a nuclear meltdown looming, is there anything aid workers can do to avoid exposure in contaminated areas?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Just hours ago, a second reactor lost its cooling ability after another explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. More than 200,000 people who live near that plant have been ordered to leave. Of the evacuees who have left their homes, many are being tested for radiation exposure. At least 160 of them are believed to have been exposed to high levels of radiation. One of them tested so high, he will have to be decontaminated.

Also, 17 U.S. military officials have tested positive for low levels of radiation while assisting in relief efforts.

Our CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me now. And let's start with the U.S. personnel. These Navy pilots who were exposed to these -- low-level radiation. And all they basically did was scrub themselves with soap and water, which seems --

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I know. Doesn't that sound amazing that you could just --

COSTELLO: It doesn't seem enough.

COHEN: It doesn't seem enough. We were talking to a professor at Georgia Tech who specializes in this. He says that is what you do when you have that kind of an exposure. You take off your clothes, you bag the clothes, get rid of the clothes, and take a shower. And sometimes you really need to scrub. But he says if the exposure is just external, that is what is done.

But I want to be clear here that there's so much we don't know. We don't know exactly what they were exposed to. You and I get exposures when we have a CAT scan, right? So, we don't know what their exposure was. Was it a CAT scan? Was it --

COSTELLO: Well, they say it was -- let me get this right -- 100 times what you would get from radiation levels naturally occurring in our environment in a day.

COHEN: Right. Right. That doesn't -- that doesn't tell you -- from what he told us, that doesn't tell you a whole lot. I would love to be able to say, OK, that means they could get this, this, and this. But we don't know exactly what that means. It's really -- all about the dose.

COSTELLO: Right.

COHEN: It's all about the dose and the duration of the dose.

COSTELLO: But you can wash it off your skin, but you would certainly breathe something in, right?

COHEN: If there is internal contamination, then there are (INAUDIBLE) agents and iodine and other kinds of things done to try to get that out internally. And it's -- it's -- this gets studied and studied and studied, after something like a Chernobyl or a Three-Mile Island. And I'm not comparing this to those. But after those, they do study for many, many years because some of these cancers can take a very long time to --

COSTELLO: As long as ten years, I've heard.

COHEN: Right. Sometimes even longer to show up. And so this is something I'm sure that will be studied just as those were studied, as well.

COSTELLO: You can take iodine pills. What does that do?

COHEN: Right. It can sometimes help with thyroid so that it can (INAUDIBLE) absorption in the thyroid. But as far as the rest of the body goes, there are other agents. Again, it really -- there's so much we don't know here because, thank goodness, this doesn't happen all that often. So, there's so much we don't know about what we're able to accomplish and not able to accomplish with those agents.

COSTELLO: The other interesting thing is the way they're protecting themselves. And I'm talking about the USS Ronald Reagan. All the sailors onboard and the Navy helicopter pilots. They're moving farther out, away from the wind. So, that doesn't seem to be the greatest of protections. You just have to like, listen to which way the wind is blowing?

COHEN: That's actually -- that's definitely the smart thing to do. Again, this is all about dose. So, the further away you go, the better. The stronger the wind that's taking it away from you, the better. This is all about, you know -- sort of real estate -- location, location, location. It's all about location, it's all about dose, which of course are related. So, trying to get as far away as you can is really the right thing to do.

COSTELLO: And hopefully the wind won't switch direction.

COHEN: Yes! Let's hope.

COSTELLO: Yes. Elizabeth Cohen, many thanks.

An all-star group of celebrities jumped into action after the Haiti earthquake last year. Now that Japan is dealing with its worst disaster in its recent history, what will those same celebrities do now? We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In Japan, aftershocks from the earthquake and tsunami. Advisories continue to rattle already-frayed nerves. Each of those tremors is like a frightening echo. And to one Japanese reporter, each step is a reminder of what they lost.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's moving. After the quake occurred, it only took 30 minutes before the whole town was engulfed.

Together with the residents who were in the place where I was covering footage, I spent my days evacuating with shared small amounts of food. We also barbecued scallop and oyster.

This woman said that somebody shouted a tsunami is coming, and it was really an instant. Yes. It all took place in an instant. This man says 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 are 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 from the hills together with local residents to the central part of the town. This was a place where houses lined up before the tsunami. There is nothing here. It's all reduced to ruins.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Japan's prime minister said people in Japan have to draw together and looks like there they are.

Parts of Japan look very different than they did just a few days ago when the country was plunged into chaos. Devastation that began with that 8.9 magnitude earthquake. Much of the damage has resulted from the tsunami that followed. Now we have satellite images of Japan before and after. CNN's Rob Marciano -- you have them. Show us.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's really phenomenal. Not quite as frightening, obviously, as the pictures we have seen on the air. We are in day four now and those pictures and the stories reported just seemingly get more frightening by the day.

A little bit of a higher viewpoint from some satellites -- high- resolution satellites, obviously high above the earth. This is GOI. This is what Sendai looked like before the quake happened and the resulting tsunami, and here's what it looked like after. I mean, you want to talk about a storm surge, this is like a storm surge of Katrina times 100. It came in with such force and momentum and mass that it wipes out everything in its path.

Now, I should mention that this part of Sendai is right on the coast. Sendai is a huge city. There are portions away from the coast that are virtually untouched. But you get closer to the shoreline, just a couple of miles, you see serious devastation.

Here's the airport just south and east of Sendai. But this is about a kilometer away from the coastline. That's what it looked like after wave came through. And there's still leftover puddles of water. You know, some low-land areas inland that got flooded by the tsunami that still have yet to drain because of the way the landscape is. That's an ongoing problem as well. Onotori is near the airport just south of Sendai. Similar -- you have farmland just outside of the residential areas. Nearly all the residential areas are wiped out. And then the farmland is still flooded, at least when this picture was taken.

And here's an area just north of Sendai, in the northern part of the bay, a fishing area with also some industry. Nearly all the residential homes here wiped out with the exception of some industry types, larger buildings here. Unbelievable shaking of the earth.

You know, Carol, some of the measurements done by scientists showing that the plates that moved and popped when this happened moved almost 60 feet, and the islands of Japan, shifting to the east by eight feet. So, it's really remarkable stuff how our world shifted on that day.

COSTELLO: And you wonder, will this ever be rebuilt? And it's impossible to believe it will be rebuilt?

MARCIANO: So many people. But you know, the Japanese are a powerhouse. They will probably get behind it, I'm sure.

COSTELLO: They have a lot of help from many different places.

MARCIANO: They do.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right.

COSTELLO: Hollywood is stepping up to help in the aid effort for Japan. We'll explain how you can get involved as well. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: When an earthquake demolished parts of Haiti last year, Hollywood jumped in this help. And now stars are getting onboard to help Japan. "Showbiz Tonight" host A.J. Hammer joins me from New York now.

So, A.J., what's going on?

A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" CO-HOST: Well, a lot of celebrities are really stepping up, trying to make it easy, Carol. Lady Gaga, for one, has started a fundraising campaign by creating and selling a red and white wristband. It says "We pray for Japan." It has an image of the singer's monster paw gesture. She is asking her fans, who she calls little monsters, buy the wristband. And she says all proceeds going directly to relief efforts.

Linkin Park, another musical act, trying to generate some relief funds. One of the band members has designed a T-shirt. It's to benefit the music for relief charity and its efforts to help Japan. A music for relief (ph), a great organization created in the aftermath of the Indonesian tsunami. They also raised funds after the earthquake in Haiti. They're soliciting donations via text message. Charlie Sheen is in the act. Sold out several upcoming live shows. Says he will donate a part of the proceeds towards relief.

And a lot of celebrities are directing their efforts toward the Red Cross. You have P. Diddy, Conan O'Brien, Katy Perry among those who have asked their Twitter followers, donate to the Red Cross via text message.

So, Carol, certainly a lot is happening right now. A lot more celebrity involvement is sure to come. And I imagine some people are working behind the scenes trying to put together another one of those big concert events to raise a lot of money.

COSTELLO: Oh, I hope so. A.J. Hammer, many thanks.

And Suzanne? Hi, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: I was just going to say it's amazing the outpouring of help that comes from so many different places to Japan. What, 49 countries, Hollywood is helping, regular Americans are helping --

MALVEAUX: Well, you hear people in need, and it's just devastating when you take a look at those pictures, you hear the stories of survival. You really want to get involved. So it's great that so many people around the world are pitching in.

COSTELLO: Yes. They need it.

I'll see you in about five minutes.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Carol. Appreciate it.