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Search for Survivors in Japan; Nuclear Safety in the U.S.; Riding a Roof 9 Miles Out to Sea; Nuclear Crisis in Japan; Dramatic Rescues Under Way; Fatal Fall at Launch Site; Deadly Tour Bus Crash; More Protests in Wisconsin

Aired March 14, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And now just about at the top of the hour, watch this.

For survivors in Japan, every minute is a challenge, and now there are new fears of nuclear radiation. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Thousands are still missing, and for survivors every minute is a challenge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They encountered waves about three meters high.

Tsunami warnings, food shortages, and now fears of nuclear radiation. Several reactors at a major plant are in trouble, so if a U.S. Navy ship is feeling the radiation some 100 miles offshore, what does that mean for people there on the ground?

Plus, the clock is ticking for those still alive and trapped. Rescues are under way, but cold weather, water and rubble are hampering the search.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. I want to begin with the incredible stories of survival coming out of Japan. So far, some 15,000 people reportedly have been saved. One of the most amazing rescues happened offshore. Take a look at this with me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (voice-over): You're going to see a man. See him with his arms up and on a piece of wood floating there on what appears to be the roof of his home. He says he was holding on for dear life as he was washed some nine miles out to sea. You can see the rescue boat there. Finally spotted and rescued Sunday, two days after that tsunami. Unfortunately, his wife was swept away.

And I want you to watch something else with me. You see that car and see any movement in the back through the windows there. You got to look really closely. It's a hand moving. People as far as a rooftop actually spotted this moving hand and yelled for the nearby rescue team who pulled out this elderly woman. She says her car was carried away by the tsunami. It was covered in mud and debris. She and two friends were trapped inside that car for more than 20 hours. Imagine that. Rescue teams are now spending their days and hours paddling down streets, going from home to home, just to try to find survivors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we getting there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She needs water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And there they go paddling along, providing water and help for those in need. But I also want to tell you quickly what's happening in why with regard to the stricken reactors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (voice-over): Today a second plant suffered an explosion. You see the smoke. It's not a nuclear blast, but apparently caused by a buildup of hydrogen. We're talking specifically here about the number three reactor at the plant just south of Sendai. The smoke rising from the blast that happened today.

And now we also have this at the number two reactor. The water level dropped around those extremely hot fuel rods, not just once but the water level went down twice. They were able to fix it once, but it happened again.

So what we're talking about here is three nuclear crises all at once, and now the Japanese have come forward. They have asked Washington for help. Want to go live in Washington to Jill Dougherty. Jill, what specifically are the Japanese asking from the U.S.?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, number one, you can imagine that here at the White House they are watching this very carefully and President Obama is being briefed by his senior aides on a regular basis.

Now, it is so important that actually we had a special briefing here with senior officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and also the Energy Department. Here's what they are saying.

The U.S. is prepared to provide anything that the Japanese should need. They already have two experts, U.S. experts, in the technology that applies to those plants in Japan that are having all the problem. It's called boiling water reactors. So those two experts are there. They are talking with officials. They are talking with experts and providing their own expertise.

And then also they are going to be sending a third expert from the United States to join them. In addition, the Japanese now are asking for help specifically in technology, equipment that could be used to help to cool the generator. I should say cool those nuclear plants to prevent the type of thing that we are seeing. Nevertheless, during that briefing the Press Secretary Jay Carney says the U.S. does believe the Japanese, that they are confident that Japan can handle this. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We stand ready to assist the Japanese who are our friends and allies in any way that we can, and it's important to remember that the Japanese have demonstrated a great resiliency and ability to pull together during times of adversity, and we are confident that they will overcome this challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: And they are also preparing, Brooke, another team of experts who could go there and help out the Japanese. Obviously it's been pointed out, you know, Japan is probably the country in the world that's almost best prepared. It has an enormous number of nuclear plants, but nevertheless the U.S. could really help out there with its expertise.

BALDWIN: We heard Jay Carney say that the U.S. stands ready to assist, so what's the reading you get? You're right there at the White House, Jill. What's the reading from Washington in terms of how deep, how severe this nuclear threat could be?

DOUGHERTY: You know, that question came up, you know, quite a bit here, but they are reluctant to say precisely what the scenario would be because it's really the Japanese who have to explain that, and there have been some, you know, incomplete comments or things that weren't exactly explained.

But you can be very sure that the top officials here are talking to the top officials there. They seem to believe that at this stage it -- it is a very serious situation. That's the word that they are using. So the -- the most important thing would be technically to keep those reactors cooled. That is the most important thing.

BALDWIN: Yes. That is precisely correct, bottom line, keeping them cool. Jill Dougherty, we appreciate it, live from the White House. And, you know, as fears grow here over radiation there in Japan, crews are still out searching for survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): 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.

BALDWIN (voice-over): They are saving people from rooftops, cars, and, of course, massive amounts of water. Up next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us around a school gym holding some of those survivors.

Plus, find out how a team from Virginia looks for signs of life beneath the rubble there many, many miles away in Japan. They are using everything from dogs to listening devices. Stay right there. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Teams from just about a dozen countries are helping Japan find and rescue survivors in the earthquake and the tsunami. In fact, two teams from the United States have just arrived in one city battered by the tsunami. Watch this. This is from CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brian Todd just outside the city of Ofunato northeast of Sendai, a very hard-hit city along the coast. We're with urban search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia and Los Angeles County.

They just pulled into this area after a long convoy, about seven hours from the north of Japan, to get all of their supplies and equipment and personnel in place to fan out in the city of Ofunato. They will be doing that in the coming hours.

These teams bring some unique capabilities with them. They've got eight inflatable boats for swift water rescues, if those become necessary. They've got 12 canine teams that can swarm in and over rubble and detect the scent of surviving humans.

Once they detect, that they have got listening devices and cameras that they can lower into the rubble to try to find out where people might be encased in some void in the rubble where they can get to them. That will help detect where people are and then they have jackhammers and heavy saws to get through all of that and get to people with a good track record of finding survivors in these areas.

They were deployed in New Zealand and Haiti last year and had several successes in those operations. They have no illusions about the fact that a tsunami hit making recovering survivors more difficult, but they are like horses at a starting gate.

After waiting three days to get their supplies and everything in here and moving at a very deliberate pace as fast as they could, but they are very, very eager to get on the ground in Ofunato and try to recover victims alive. Brian Todd, outside of Ofunato, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Well, just about a half a million people are calling shelters home now in the wake of Japan's triple disaster, the earthquake, tsunami and these two explosions at two different nuclear reactors.

So Dr. Sanjay Gupta who's there in Japan takes us to a school where hundreds of people are having to make do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people being told to evacuate as a result of these concerns about radiation. Add that on top of obviously so many people's homes have been destroyed as a result of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

This is one of the largest sort of makeshift refugee camps, sort of just came together over the last few days. This is something here in Japan knew is that schools are typically built at higher elevations than many other buildings and the building codes for schools are more stricter.

They are more earthquake resistance, and they also become an immediate place for refugees in the aftermath of something like this. So hundreds of people have been coming into this particular part of the school, this gymnasium. They say anywhere around 70 people in this particular area now. More people in other parts of the school.

This is quickly becoming one of the largest refugee areas as a result. Very cold outside, so people who are displaced as a result of the mandatory evacuation, Fukushima about 100 kilometers from here, but people in Onigawa have made their way to this particular refugee area.

That's sort of a consequence of all these difference activities in all these different tragedies over the last several days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta there, and now one more aspect here. It's a different look at the disaster in Japan, the economy. The economic impact could be massive. Our Alison Kosik has that part of the story.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. Japan's main stock market was hit hard today with the Nikkei plunging more than 6 percent. Japan hasn't seen a drop that big since 2008 when the world was in the midst of a financial crisis.

Shares of Toyota, Nissan and Sony fell 8 percent to 9 percent in Japan. Toshiba and Hitachi plunged by the double digits. Investors are really worried about how the earthquake and tsunami will be affecting Japan's economy.

Here at home, we could feel the impact as well. After all, we import a lot of products from Japan starting with cars. Toyota, Honda and Nissan have all halted production in Japan, and the plan is to stop the manufacturing lines for a few days and Nissan is already backup and running.

Meantime though, thousands of cars won't be made. Also affected, the tech sector, Sony and Toshiba, they are temporarily halting production as well, and analysts the chips in hardware used in Smartphones and tablets could be in short supply so this really shows how interconnected we all are. Back to you.

BALDWIN: Alison, thank you. I want to remind too you stay with CNN for the latest on what's happening in Japan. Coming up tonight at 10:00 Eastern, Anderson Cooper will be back up live hosting a special edition of "AC 360" from Japan.

Back here at home, tragedy at the Kennedy Space Center. A worker falls to his death while getting the space shuttle "Endeavour" ready. NASA says it's under investigation. More on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If it's interesting and happening right now, you're about to see it. I want to begin in Florida. This news in from NASA.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN (voice-over): A worker fell to his death this morning while getting the space shuttle "Endeavour" ready for its final flight. The man worked for the same contractor used by NASA, and that incident is now being investigated.

Also, 15 people are dead after that bus crash in the Bronx over the weekend. Police say it happened early Saturday after the tour bus driver lost control of his bus, hit two different sign poles.

The bus was operated by Worldwide Travel, and we are learning today from government records that this particular company has been involved in two other crashes with injuries over the course of the past two years. In a statement though the company says it is, quote, heartbroken at the deaths and the injuries.

And it may have been the biggest demonstration so far in Madison, Wisconsin. Look at these crowds. Police estimate tens of thousands of people turned out Saturday, even though Governor Scott Walker has already signed the bill that wipes out most collective bargaining rights for public workers. The minority leader of the state assembly says, quote, "these people are not going away."

To southwest Virginia now where police say a gunman shot and killed two sheriff's deputies with a high-powered rifle. Two other officers were wounded in that shootout. It started as deputies went to investigate a suspected robbery at a service station. Police say they tracked down the gunman two hours after the shootout, and when they drew a pistol on them, he was shot and killed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: And back to our continuing coverage here of the quake and tsunami emergency in northern Japan. It is just after 5:00 in the morning there now, Tuesday, and sadly the focus is shifting from rescue to recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (voice-over): Nearly a half million people are living in shelters. They need food. They need medical attention. Many of these people have lost every single possession they ever owned, probably even in some cases sadly they have lost their family members. There won't be a normal in Japan's quake zone for a long, long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Hala Gorani joining me now for "Globe Trekking." I just want to begin with aid. What kind of help is coming to Japan right now?

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, many countries have offered help, 91 countries in fact. The United States is sending 150 search- and-rescue workers as well as several dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, because there is still hope.

We saw it in Haiti. I remember reporting on the rescue of a man who was under the rubble for more than 10 days. The thing going against people now is the weather because subfreezing temperatures.

BALDWIN: Snow.

GORANI: And we understand a light dusting of snow. Some of it might accumulate. What's interesting, and I found this. Actually it's touching because in times of need when countries need help, the countries that come forward and offer the help despite the fact that there might be political tensions.

China is sending, for instance, 15 rescue workers despite the fact that two countries politically and diplomatically it hasn't been the easiest of relationships and here's another one.

New Zealand, Christchurch, New Zealand, they are sending their own personnel, search-and-rescue personnel so those are interesting angles to look at.

You know, when you see on the faces of people the desperation, the grief and the loss, to know that around the world, people including organizations, including some of our viewers, by the way.

BALDWIN: Absolutely.

GORANI: Are eager to help.

BALDWIN: Yes, you get people tweeting you and I get people tweeting me saying how can we help.

GORANI: And they can go to cnn.com/impact where we have those NGO's and charities.

BALDWIN: Also, the big story today, the nuclear plant and the issues there. I spoke with a nuclear physicist and you spoke with Jim Walsh earlier today. What did he tell you?

GORANI: Well, on CNN International we've been trying to give this story some perspective. We've been trying to explain to people what does meltdown mean? I don't know. I'm sure many of our viewers, unless they are engineers and nuclear physicists aren't familiar with the problem.

BALDWIN: We're all learning.

GORANI: Now, the Fukushima Daiichi plant is one that had an issue with number two, one and three suffered explosions. That was already bad enough and reactor number two, some of the fuel rods were exposed, OK. I didn't know what that meant. I asked Jim Walsh what are the implications of fuel rods being exploded, and this is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM WALCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What they mean when they say fuel rods are exposed, they are suggesting that the water in the plant, those fuel rods are covered in water and that the water had drained out, well, in this case had been boiled out because the rods are hot.

So the water boils, turns into steam and the water level declines and declines and then at some point those rods are exposed to the air, and when they are exposed to the air, that's when the rods begin to melt or begin to be compromised. They are covered in metallic cladding which begins to melt, and that's a partial meltdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: All right. A partial meltdown is when you have some --

BALDWIN: Rartial.

GORANI: Right, some level of meltdown of the uranium, and then the question is how much of the radiation, how much of these nauseous particles make it north air and then it's not so many shades of gray in this.

What does radiation -- how bad does the radiation level have to be for it to be bad for human beings. What radius are we talking about?

BALDWIN: So far it's 12 miles.

GORANI: It's still contained and the IAEA of the U.N. nuclear agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, saying another Chernobyl, not likely, because they have the kind of containment technology that Chernobyl did not have, so it doesn't look like we're looking at that possibility in Japan.

BALDWIN: Thank goodness, but what is unique is we're talking about multiple different nuclear reactors. That is unprecedented.

GORANI: That is absolutely the case, and also we're looking at many unknowns, because on Saturday we had one explosion. Today we have another and then a third reactor. You know, it's just every single day seems to be bringing bad news when it comes to the nuclear facilities.

BALDWIN: Here's hoping this is the worst of it.

GORANI: Let's hope.

BALDWIN: Hala Gorani, thank you.

GORANI: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Now, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bradley manning is being held stripped naked in prison.

BALDWIN (voice-over): People in their underwear standing in front of the White House today. Do you see this? They are there and speaking out in support of Bradley Manning, the army private accused of leaking those government secrets.

Well, there is a new fallout after a high-profile member of the Obama administration has resigned over comments he recently made about Manning. That is next.

Plus, new violence overseas. Government forces are taking over several rebel towns now in Libya, and more than 1,000 people are injured in Bahrain. Live reports from both those places next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want you to watch this piece of video with me. Video of the tsunami hitting coast of Japan on Friday. This is the closest thing to being there that we've ever seen. It starts at street level, sirens are going off, they're blaring and then the cold black water rushes in. Let's watch this together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Doesn't it make you wonder who is standing there shooting that so closely at street level. Keep in mind as the water rises, this person keeps shooting, and this individual climbs to higher ground, I'm told. Imagine being on the other side of the camera lens. That's all I could think about.

Now to this. Hillary Clinton's spokesman goes off message and is now out the door. Bahrain calls in reinforcements as protests reach a boiling point and Moammar Gadhafi's forces recapture another town in Libya. There's a lot going on.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette". I want to begin with Jill Dougherty there at the White House. Jill, this has to do with P.J. Crowley's remarks last week at MIT. What was it that he said?

DOUGHERTY: Well, actually he said that Bradley Manning, remember Bradley Manning is that private first class who's being held in Quantico because of the suspicion that he helped to leak those State Department documents, remember, the Wikileaks.

So P.J. Crowley was talking about that, and he said that the way he thought Bradley Manning was being treated was counterproductive, ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid.

And so, of course, when you say something like that about the Defense Department, it doesn't go down well, so last Friday when the president was asked about it, he said, well, I looked into it and asked the Pentagon how Manning is being treated, is it appropriate and they assure me that it is.

So then the other shoe had to drop, and Sunday Crowley stepped down. He's no longer the press secretary.

BALDWIN: Do we know yet, Jill, perhaps it's too early, do you know who is replacing him?

DOUGHERTY: Actually we do. It's Mike Hammer. He came over a few months ago from the NSC, the National Security Council over here at the White House. He's now at State. He's been there, and he will be filling in. So far he's the acting spokesperson, and who knows, he'll probably become the permanent.

BALDWIN: Jill Dougherty at the White House. Jill, my thanks to you.

Next in "Reporter Roulette," let's go to Mohammed Jamjoon. He's in Abu Dhabi in the UAE talking about what's happening today in Bahrain. Mohammed, we saw international troops arriving today. What's happening?

MOHAMMED JAMJOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, this is a very significant development. These are GCC, Gulf Cooperation Council security forces. They've arrived in Bahrain today. It's the first time the GCC has ever deployed a security force to go into one of their member countries to try to protect it.

They have done so at the request of Bahrainish. The Bahrainish have been facing about a month of protests there. People there are calling for regime change and some just calling for moderate reform.

But there's been violent clashes going on. Last week more than 1,000 people injured. Today, a hundred protesters in the streets of Monma blocking access to the financial district.

The situation is deteriorating and the forces have come in. They entered over the cause way from Saudi Arabia into Bahrain. You have Saudi forces and you have UAE forces and what we're trying to determine, will they act as anti-right police or - again, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Okay. Mohammed. My thanks to you here, and coming up next on "Reporter Roulette," we have Ben Wedeman in eastern Libya. And Ben, we know Moammar Gadhafi's forces are grabbing several key oil towns from the opposition. We're going to get to Ben Wedeman on those latest developments and also the fact that some of these opposition numbers are feeling a little bit neglected because the world now is shifting its focus to on Japan.

We'll talk to Ben on the other side of the break. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We're able to quickly turn around that street level flooding the moment the tsunami hit one town in Japan. But it's quite another to see these aerial pictures. CNN.com has put together this astonishing way to see the true damage that the earthquake and the tsunami did to Japan's coastline and the people who live there. So, there's a couple of different cities I'm going to point out to you. And I just tweeted this link out so can you sit at your office computer and really take a closer look at the before and after.

You can see it's beautiful, it's lush. It's before, the green gas, all the homes. Maybe somebody has a pool here. This is Sendai, by the way -- and take your finger and just slide it on along, and slowly you see the after, the devastation. The green is gone. That's Sendai.

It's also pretty interesting to look at Sendai airport because obviously planes aren't coming in here at all anymore because you're about to see why. Let me move the before, and you can see the after. Just mud, muck, and what happens when a tsunami washes over this particular area.

The next place, this is the Fukushima power plant. This is the before. This is where we've been talking about some of these explosions, some of the uranium rods being exposed, so keep your eyes in this area. Going to take you and show you the after, and you can see the smoke.

We have a couple of pictures. Roger, pull up a couple of the pictures that we have in full. So, another example of the before, and then you can see the after. And one more before and then the after, and can you see the smoke there from that plant.

One more thing I want to show you, and this is really cool. You can look at the map -- so this is the map here of one of the islands of Japan. You can play around. That is the epicenter of the earthquake from Friday, and can you click on these different red icons. For example, let's click here. And it will pull up video from that particular city.

And in this case we're talking about the nuclear crisis with Stan Grant, our international correspondent, taking a look at that. One more for you, pulling this back up. Let's see what's happening down here on the coastline. City washed away.

So, again, all these different links. You can find this on CNN.com and I just tweeted this out at on my Twitter page @BrookeBcnn.

Switching gears here from talking about Japan to Libya. I want to go to senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman, who is in eastern Libya right now.

And Ben, Moammar Gadhafi's forces, we know they are grabbing several key oil towns from the opposition. You've been saying the rebel forces are feeling the pressure, but they are also feeling a bit neglected, are they not, because of what's happening. The world now shifting focus to Japan.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly with all the focus on Japan, they are feeling they are not quite the top story at the moment (AUDIO GAP).

But more importantly, they are feeling that after all this talk about a no-fly zone that it seems to be only talk. Increasingly the tone, the atmosphere is changing from one of optimism to a certain amount of bitterness, the feeling being that after their revolt, which began on the 17th of February in which they called for democracy and human rights and freedom in Libya, that the rest of the world has turned its back and is allowing Moammar Gadhafi forces to retake territory and now possibly threaten Benghazi itself, which is where this revolt began. Brooke?

BALDWIN: One of these towns we've spoken about, Ben, is the town of Brega, which has an oil refinery. And it's significant because we know that Gadhafi's forces have now overtaken this town. I'm just curious as you've been talking about some of the rebels, do they see it as a tactical retreat, or is this total loss here?

WEDEMAN: Well, their leaders are describing it as a tactical retreat, but what we've seen of being on the ground, being in Brega, is that it was just a plain retreat. That they were pummeled by aircraft, by artillery, even by warships out in the Mediterranean. And they simply could not hold out any longer.

They are now regrouping outside the town of Ajdabiya, which is a 40- minute drive to the east of Brega. They are hoping that they can put up a better defense or fight to stop this advance on Benghazi.

Also, it's important to note that at Ajdabiya, there is a desert highway that goes very near to the Egyptian border. If the Libyan forces can go on that highway, close of the border to Egypt, then Benghazi and several other key cities on the eastern Mediterranean coast of Libya will essentially be cut off.

BALDWIN: Wow, that is very significant. We know Benghazi has long been a rebel stronghold there on the coast.

Ben Wedeman, live in eastern Libya. Ben, my thanks to you.

Back here in the United States, did you know it's sunshine week? Do you even know what that means? It's an effort to keep the government honest and transparent. But some lawmakers, let's just say, they are not exactly walking on sunshine. Joe Johns has been digging on this one. The "Political Pop" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So there's this thing, this group called the Gridiron Club Dinner. Ever heard of this? Once a year, a bunch of journalists and public figures get together in the name of freedom of information. But the irony here of this whole thing is it's a no TV cameras rule.

Joe Johns is here with the "Political Pop." Today. And Joe, tell me more about what this Gridiron Club does, and it's a little hard to believe that we're talking about freedom of information and no cameras are allowed.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, you've got to sort of divorce the two. The Gridiron Club has been around like more than a century, and every year they sort of open themselves up for us to have a little fun with them because they don't allow TV cameras in. I mean, it's sort of a hilarious excuse-arama, if you will, of secrecy.

The Gridiron Club, always fun to hear how journalists who live off off media freedom 364 days a year can justify a no-TV cameras rule when it comes to their private event. Going on, you know, 126 years, I think, so even before there was a TV cameras there was a no-cameras rule. This has been going on a long time

BALDWIN: OK. So it's one of those, enjoy taking a break, not dealing with cameras, maybe getting some goods off-record. Which brings us to, Joe Johns, Sunshine week. Tell me about that.

JOHNS: Yes. Okay. Sunshine Week is something that's been going on for, shoot, about a decade. It is a week that we devote to the idea of openness and transparency in government. And it's the time of year when the Obama administration, for example, is able to say, hey, we said we're going to be the most open and transparent government in the United States. And the question is whether they did that.

That's been a little bit controversial. But what's interesting, when you look at Sunshine Week is the question of what are the states doing? And we find that the states have a lot of issues, some for good and some for bad.

BALDWIN: Well, are people finding that it's easier or more difficult to get information from the state level?

JOHNS: Well, one example that just sort of came across the transom over the last two or thee hours is that in the state of Ohio, Governor John Kasich there, apparently has told reporters that the roll out of his budget, which is scheduled for tomorrow, will not be broadcast with sound and images. However, there will be a town hall sometime tomorrow as well, and that is going to be fed out by cameras run by the state.

BALDWIN: Uh-huh. I read about that. That popped up in my e-mail. I wondered about that.

JOHNS: Right. Yes, yes.

BALDWIN: So, you can't have cameras but you can have pen and paper. So, when people talk transparency then, Joe Johns, is it sort of like a matter of who controls the message and maybe it's one thing to one state and one thing to another?

JOHNS: It is. Well, there's some Republican governors who were sort of swept in over the last two years who really actually put money where their mouth is on this. Alabama, Indiana, North Carolina. They actually have transparency Web sites where a lot of people can go and get information about, for example, how their money is spent. And some states have streaming video of legislative meetings.

But the problem really is public perception. That decisions behind closed doors, smoke-filled rooms and the government doesn't have any input. New York State, for example, has gotten slammed over this for years. Iowa has also been slammed because people say they don't have access to information about public records and public meetings. So this is what we're talking about this week, and it's just funny that the Gridiron Club Dinner is at the very start of it.

BALDWIN: It's all in one week. Good times in Washington, Joe Johns. Thank you.

And we're never going too far from what's happening in Japan. Just imagine how you go about finding loved ones who are missing in the disaster zone. You're going to see some of the frantic moments of horror and concern.

Plus, CNN's Gary Tuchman will take us along during a rescue mission on a boat. Don't miss that. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want you to watch this piece of video with me. This was so compelling, so chilling, we wanted to play it for you again. This is the video of the tsunami hitting Japan on Friday. This is the closest thing to really being there we have seen here at CNN, and we sort through a lot of video every day.

It starts at street level. You're going to hear the sirens. They go off. And then the cold, black water just rushes in. Watch.

(SIRENS)

BALDWIN: Now I want you to see what happened just three minutes later. This is an extended piece of video we've not yet shown.

Keep in mind as the water rises the person who is shooting the video -- imagine how close this person is standing, first and foremost, to the forceful water. This individual climbs to higher ground. Here's another vantage point.

Wow. What really struck me, the force of the water, the roar of the water, and pieces of beds and homes and metal flying along in that wave. Imagine also being on the other side of that camera lens, that close, to that tsunami.

Days after the tsunami, CNN's Gary Tuchman rode along with some of the crews there as they searched for survivors, and also searching for bodies. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The town of Ishinomaki, Japan, is by the sea, but is also now part of the sea. Much of Ishinomaki is under water because of the tsunami. Many have died here, but hundreds of people have been marooned. Now help is arriving.

(on camera): We're with members of the army right now trying to rescue these people.

(voice-over): We see a woman waving from her apartment window. She's desperate for drinking water, but, to our surprise, doesn't want to evacuate her home. So we move on. But most other people are very anxious and very grateful to go. For more than three days, residents have lived inside this office building surrounded by the tsunami waters. This is the pickup point for rescue.

Inside the building tired and frightened people await their turn for their boat ride out. There is no cell service, so these people don't know how their loved ones elsewhere are doing, and their loved ones don't know about them. Mutko Chiva (ph) doesn't know what happened to her parents.

(on camera): How scary has this been for you?

MUTKO CHIVA (ph), RESIDENT: Oh, I had no word. So scared. We had panicked.

TUCHMAN: You were panicked?

CHIVA: Panicked, very much.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): More boats are brought in so the pace of rescues can be quickened. The ride is 10 minutes long. Most of these people were not aware how devastating the tsunami has been.

I ask this man what's going through his mind. He tells me he just wants to go to a safe place.

This soldier is one of dozens spending the day rowing. He says he knows the task is important, but the situation is emotionally difficult.

After they reach dry land, some of those rescued are taken to the hospital. Most of the others are able to walk off, but often without knowing where to go. After all, their hometown is under water.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Ishinomaki, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Well, if it could happen in Japan, one question a lot of people are asking is, could it happen here in the United States? Speaking specifically about several nuclear plants built in the U.S. on or near fault lines. So are we vulnerable to the same kind of nuclear crisis Japan is experiencing right now with Fukushima? And where are scientists predicting the next big quake in the U.S. could be?

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now I want to get you tomorrow's news today. Let's "Fast Forward," beginning with General David Petraeus testifying before Congress on the start of the Afghan War. This will be his first time testifying since he took over command of coalition forces some eight months ago. Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meeting with more world leaders at the G-8 summit in Paris. Among other items to be discussed, they will be certainly speaking about the unrest in Libya.

And basketball fans, the NCAA Tournament kicking off -- can you believe -- tomorrow. The madness begins. Sixty-eight teams will compete for the college basketball crown.

And now though, this country has 65 power plants, this country, the United States here, 65 power plants. And some of the people who live nearby might feel a little less safe than they did before seeing the crisis we're seeing unfolding in those three reactors in Japan at that Fukushima Daiichi plant, in those three different nuclear reactors there, and what's happening.

So, Chad Myers, there's been a lot of talk today, especially in California, where you have some of the same ingredients with the fault lines. You're next to a massive ocean. You have some of these plants.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Of course.

BALDWIN: So people are wondering, could we maybe see this here?

MYERS: There's no question I think the regulatory committee in the next couple of weeks will go, all right, let's double what we thought worst-case scenario could be for every site and see what happens, see where we are.

You know, we have facilities in the New Madrid Fault. Well, that didn't have a quake for 200 years, but the last one that was in New Madrid was a big one.

The Missouri River -- Mississippi River ran backward. The whole Earth tilted there in the middle of the New Madrid Fault. There are plants there.

And almost every plant is on some type of body of water. Think of south of Detroit, on Lake Erie. They use that water to cool the plant. This is the same cooling that the Japanese are having problems with right now. We have fresh water coming into our plants.

But it's really the ones out in California that I think will really get some more scrutiny here. And maybe some old fault lines that we don't know too much about yet. Maybe there was an earthquake 1,000 years ago that really no one was around to record, right?

Maybe all of this little extra scrutiny will make everyone feel a little bit safer when all of this gets redone. I think we're going to open up every single book and -- because what happens --

MYERS: Which I think to your point, the fact that, you know, in these horrifying instances, at least it makes everybody sort of triple-check their own guidelines, regulations, procedures.

MYERS: No question about it. The Japanese were ready for an 8.5 earthquake. They got an 8.9. They were ready for a 25-foot tsunami. They got a 30-footer.

All these numbers that they thought, we could never get anything bigger than that, it all happened. All bigger than that all happened, so maybe the world needs to say, let's raise our standards just a little bit.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you something, sort of putting you on the spot, but I'm sure you know. In terms of the weather right now -- and you can see --

MYERS: Oh, yes.

BALDWIN: -- I don't know if that's snow there in Japan.

MYERS: It is, absolutely.

BALDWIN: You know, we see our correspondents bundled in their jackets. You think about these rescue teams and you feel for them, because it is cold and it's snowing.

MYERS: There will be a number of meteorological factors that we will address in the next couple of days.

One, wind direction. If nuclear power is released, if radiation is released, which way does the wind blow it?

BALDWIN: Right.

MYERS: Hopefully out to sea. Maybe not.

There's a slight nor'easter kind of heading up their coast, making a little bit of an east wind. We don't want that at all.

And then this temperature difference. We'll have 28 for a low and it will be 39 for a high in all of these very hard-hit areas, and people literally are still surviving under this rubble. There's still survivors under that. We know that. But how long can you survive at 28 degrees, 35 degrees? It might be a little bit tough.

BALDWIN: We will be continuing this conversation this time tomorrow, Mr. Myers.

MYERS: Of course.

BALDWIN: I appreciate it.

And I also just want to remind you, stay with CNN, of course, for the latest on what's happening tonight in Japan.

Coming up tonight, 10:00 Eastern, I will be watching, I hope you will as well. Anderson Cooper will be hosting a live special edition of "AC 360," live from Japan.

But for now, I want to go to my colleague Wolf Blitzer, live in Paris, traveling along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, leading up "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf.