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Checking In At The NYSE; Nuclear Crisis Level Raised; 'Miniscule' Radiation Hits U.S.; U.S. Role In No-Fly Zone; More Fear And More Fatalities In Japan; Witnesses Say No Cease Fire In Libya
Aired March 18, 2011 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N. move clears the way for military action. Country likes France, Britain and Spain have discussed what role they might play if Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi doesn't stop the attacks against his own people. A senior diplomatic source close to issue also says two Arab nations, Qatar and the United Arab Emirate, showed a willingness to support international efforts against Gadhafi.
President Obama will address the situation in Libya right here on CNN next hour.
Now, just a short time ago, secretary of state Hillary Clinton made it clear Gadhafi will have to prove he's serious about honoring the cease-fire through his actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We've seen press reports of a cease-fire by the Libyan government. This is a fluid and dynamic situation. We are going to be not responsive or impressed by words, we would have to see actions on the ground, and that is not yet at all clear. We will continue to work with our partners in the international community to press Gadhafi to leave and to support the legitimate aspirations of the Libyan people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is standing by live, he's in Tripoli, Libya. We're going to check with him in just a moment.
First, though, let's go to our Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence with a look at what role the U.S. might play in the no- fly zone.
Chris, live at the pentagon. Chris, what's on deck for the U.S. now that the un has passed this?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (live): Well, Ali, the U.S. Air Force has a base in Italy, the U.S. Navy has two, and the Italians have already OKed the use of their area to launch some of the missions in this no-fly zone. There was an aircraft carrier, the Enterprise, in the Mediterranean Sea near Libya. But it left earlier this week and it's now out in the Arabian Sea. Without a carrier, planes will have to fly possibly farther, which means they won't be able to spend as much time over in Libyan air space which means you may need more planes to carry out the mission.
Some of the officials I've spoken with here in the Pentagon say don't just think of a no-fly as American fighter pilots flying American jets. There are other ways in which the U.S. can contribute, unmanned drones, for instance.
The U.S. also has signal-jamming aircraft that could disrupt Colonel Gadhafi's ability to communicate with his forces.
But overall, what you're going to have to do is have a very clear line of command and real solid rules of engagement. For example, when these pilots -- if they had to engage, do they try to scare off the Libyan pilots or do they give them a chance to eject and ditch their plane?
Another case, if Colonel Gadhafi decides not to fly jets, if the threat of the no-fly zone is enough to keep his planes grounded, do you then go after some of his artillery and tanks on the ground -- Ali?
Chris, let's talk about this because when we first talked about a no-fly zone, Defense Secretary Gates said this is very dangerous without doing things necessary as a precursor. And he said that amounts to an act of war, you've to go in, you've got to take out Gadhafi's defenses before you start enforcing an air -- a no-fly zone. Talk to me a little bit about whether that concern still exists, and what Gadhafi's defenses are actually like?
LAWRENCE: That concern is always going to be there, Ali. I mean, he does have ballistic missiles that we believe have a range of about just under 200 miles offshore. He's also got between two dozen and three dozen missile launching sites, although it's under some consideration as to exactly how many of his surface-to-air missile sites are in areas that are now controlled by the rebels. In other words, how much control does he have over all of these missile sites?
Another thing to keep in mind, he does have, you know, between 100 and 200 fighter jets, he does have these surface-to-air missiles, but most of them he got in the 1970s and early '80s, their Soviet era. And really, they are no match for the modern capabilities of, say, the U.S. military.
Some of the folks that I spoke with here say that there's no real fear of being able -- of not being able to overcome his air defenses, the real fear is more in what they call mission creep in that once you're engaged and once you're in that battle zone, perhaps you take on more and more responsibility and get dragged deeper and deeper into the conflict there.
VELSHI: All right, Chris, we'll stay on top of this with you. Thanks very much. Chris is live at the Pentagon. Let's go to Japan where fears continue to spread, the death toll continues to client. Today marks one week after that massive earthquake and the devastating tsunami which battered the country. Six thousand nine hundred and eleven are now confirmed dead and another 10,000 are still missing.
Survivors across Japan observed a moment of silence today at the exact time that the quake struck, many still wearing face masks, many of them still in shock.
A lot of the survivors are also huddling in nearby shelters. Japanese media reporting some 380,000 people in shelters. What makes matters worse, some of those shelters are without power and facing freezing temperatures.
Some survivors are returning home today for the very first time since the tsunami, like this retired firefighter, Kenichi Suzuki. He lost his home and his entire family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My wife, my son's family and four grandchildren, I lost them all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: As for the nuclear crisis, things are not looking much better in Fukushima. Japan's nuclear agency today raised the crisis level on the damaged planted there, you're looking at it, from a four to a five. That raises it to the same level as Three Mile Island in 1979.
And with these pictures, you can see why. Take a look at this. This is the air -- the view from the air at one of the damaged reactors. You can see there, down inside the reactor building, the extent of the damage.
Japanese crews are back to work today, still spraying the damaged reactor unit with tons of sea water to keep spent nuclear fuel from overheating. International atomic experts say things are serious but reasonably stable for now.
Now, for more perspective on the nuclear situation in Japan, right now let's turn to our CNN Correspondent Martin Savidge who is in Tokyo.
Martin, why a week after the event are they raising the crisis level to this number five which is the same as the Three Mile Island crisis?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Ali. Well, I -- first of all, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that it's only been a week, somehow it seems it's been weeks with all that's been going on in this poor country.
Here is the reasoning. This is something called the international nuclear and radiological event scale. It's a scale that goes from one to seven, one being, of course, least problematic, seven being a Chernobyl.
Well, today the Japanese nuclear safety agency decided to race their level which had been at four to now a level five. And as you point out, that's an equivalent to, say, Three Mile Island.
So, why today? Well, it wasn't like it was something that actually happened specifically today, although you did allude to one thing, but let me explain. This is kind of a lagging indicator. So, you had a number of events during the weeks, you had several explosions, you've had what appeared to be a partial meltdown in some of the cores, so that's one of the reasons you had to raise the seriousness of the event.
The other is the imagery you said they got today, flying over the site. They really had been sort of blind as to exactly what's been happening inside of all of these reactors. Remember it, it's not just one reactor, we're talking about six nuclear reactors here, and all of them had various problems in various stages. But they flew over with a helicopter and began to look down and they could see, yes, it was as serious as perhaps had been feared. You do have partial core exposure, you do have problems with water levels, and you certainly have significant areas of damage and possible exposure of the cores to the atmosphere. So, that's why they raised it today -- Ali.
VELSHI: Now, Martin, the understanding is by using the sea water to try and keep these reactors cool, it's going to damage these reactors beyond repair. Do we have some sense of what the long-term plan is for those reactors, is there some thought they'll rebuild them? Is that plant done?
SAVIDGE: Yes, well, they're done, they're toast. I mean essentially because the fact that once you introduce sea water and once you introduced some of the other, like, things like boron they've been using, that means that they are pretty much over with using those reactors. Some thoughts have been given to maybe they will bury them with sand and cement all at Chernobyl, although that was asked specifically today of Japanese authorities and they say that really won't be possible at this point. They're still more focused on the immediate long term, then they'll have to thinking about that once they get the immediate stabilized -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Marty. Good to see you, thanks very much. Martin Savidge for us in Tokyo.
We've been telling you about reports of more fighting in Libya. Despite the fact that the government announced a cease-fire today. We're going live to Libya, Nic Robertson standing by to tell us what the situation is on the ground, after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Clear skies in Atlanta as you were just seeing. Are clear skies in Libya? Because there's a no-fly zone imposed there. Let's go back to the situation in Libya. You are looking at the no- fly zone that has been imposed by the government.
Now, despite the government announcing a cease-fire -- I'm sorry -- the no-fly zone has been imposed by the United Nations. In response, the Libyan government announced a cease-fire today in response to that U.N. security council no-fly zone, but witnesses say the fighting hasn't stopped.
Let me show you something. Look in the areas in the green that the opposition controlled late last month. Now, watch closely as I show you the areas that Gadhafi forces have recaptured. I think we're already on that second map. These are the forces that you can -- you see that there was a lot more green in the last one, now there's a lot more red. Benghazi and Tobruk are still in rebel controlled areas. Here we go, this was late February. See, there's a lot more green on the right? Now take a look at the situation.
Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is in Tripoli with a look at whether the Libyan government is serious -- is serious about the cease-fire.
First of all, Nic, give us your sense of -- we've been getting conflicting reports as to whether or not there actually a cease-fire or not. The Libyan government announced it, have they stopped?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In Misrata, 120 miles to the east of the capitol, it seems they haven't. We have reports from there from opposition people in the city that the government is attacking it. Ajdabiya, the similar situation, the army -- the Libyan army surrounds it and reports of heavy explosions there.
So, the facts on the ground seem to say not. Libyan state TV telling its viewers, however, that the government is abiding by a cease-fire. It almost sort of sets the stage here, if you will, for Moammar Gadhafi's government to say, we're doing our part, we support the U.N. resolution.
And then, when there are air strikes to enforce and stop the army attacking civilians, then they'll be able to say, look, we were doing our part, and that means the national community has attacked us. He will undoubtedly use any strike against him to rally support to him and to the government. But right now, the facts on the ground don't measure up to what government officials are telling us -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right, one of the things that seemed to get this back on the front burner was those two maps I just showed my viewers. In late February, the opposition seemed to have the wind at their back, the anti-Gadhafi forces. Much has changed, in fact, it sort of corresponds to everything that's been going on in Japan.
While that's been in the news, the government -- this was late February you're looking at right now, now take a look at where government control has extended, look at how many more red dots there are now. Is it too little, too late or is this going to actually help opposition forces again?
ROBERTSON: If the U.N. resolution is as it says it is, that it will protect civilians and isn't just a no-fly zone, that the use of heavy artillery and armor against civilians in cities like Ajdabiya, like Misurata. If the resolution is enforced, i.e., taking out army position that are targeting the rebels and the civilians around them in those cities, if that's enforced, then it won't be too little too late for those populations.
However, we're unlikely to see this sort of color balance shift. We're likely to see the red that stretched -- the Gadhafi forces that stretched into the east roll back, the green that we saw rolling westwards earlier in February. I don't think we're going to see that on the ground. If anything, what we're really seeing right now is the Gadhafi government try to create some facts on the ground before the international community can get its military act together and strike. They're trying, it appears, to take control of a couple of last cities before they have to lock it all down -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Nic, we'll stay on top of this with you. Thanks very much. Nic Robertson joining us from Tripoli.
All right, Friday. With so much breaking news from Libyan and Japan all week, how has the U.S. stock market handled the chaos? How has the U.S. stock market handled the chaos? How has your 401(K) or your IRA handle it? I'll tell you about it in "Your Money" right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It has been a volatile week for global financial markets with the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, North Africa and then things going on in Japan. Here at home, the Dow fell more than 400 points between Monday and Wednesday, and then a triple digit gain on Thursday. And, today, the Dow is up again. Alison Kosik, my good friend, joins me live from the New York Stock Exchange for more on this.
Alison, let's just take a look at what happened between yesterday afternoon and this morning on the stock market. Take a look at that. We opened this morning and there's a big surge, pulled back a little bit, but we're still in the neighborhood of generally up. Give us some sense of the markets for the week.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and you what, you talk about the move that the markets have been making. Even just the Dow. You're looking at the S&P right there. But if you think about the Dow, it's made four triple-digit moves just this week. Two up, two down. That's including today. I mean it's been kind of like whiplash here on the markets because what you're seeing, Ali, is investors reacting to every negative or positive headline, you know, coming out of Libya, coming out of Japan. And so it's been these knee-jerk reactions to sell and to buy. And that's really what we've seen all week, Ali.
One thing that we're seeing today is financials. They're surging. You know, if you own any stocks in banks, you may see dividends come back because the Fed gave its approval letting banks pay out their dividends or even boost their dividend payments from pre-recession levels. So if you own stocks including JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, you could see dividends come back on your investment sheet there.
Ali.
VELSHI: Right. And a lot of our viewers will have dividend paying stocks in their 401(k)s or their IRAs. Give me some sense of, as you've been talking to people on Wall Street, whether this week's volatility has been specifically because of specific business concerns about what's going on in Japan or it's one of those we've had a good run in the markets for the last three months and they needed some excuse to sell stocks?
KOSIK: It's a little bit of each of what you said. You know what, investors, traders, they've all been talking about this corruption. Meaning, we've had a nice run-up in the markets, we've seen stocks shoot up really high. But many investors and traders are saying that the markets have been overbought. They were predicting that we'd see a downturn in the markets. So in that way, not such a huge surprise. But what they were, in fact, looking for all this time, Ali, was maybe an excuse. And there came Libyan and there came the tragedy in Japan. So those were the excuses for that so-called correction, even though technically this is not a correction. It is, you know, it's quite a pullback in the markets, though, Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Alison, good to see you. Thanks very much. Stay on top of it for us. If things change dramatically, we'll pop you back up and you can tell us what's going on.
Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange.
Lots of stuff going on. Remember, today was supposed to be the day that the government was going to shut down. They got an extension on that. But we'll talk a lot about it this weekend on our money shows. Be sure to tune in to "Your Bottom Line" with Christine every Saturday morning at 9:30 Eastern. "Your Money" is Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3:00. We'll talk about Japan, we'll talk about your investments, we'll talk about nuclear power and we'll talk about this government shutdown, which is going to face us in a few weeks.
All right, it is 22 minutes after the hour. Time to check some of our top stories.
The Libyan government is calling for a ceasefire today after the United Nations authorized a no-fly zone and the use of force to protect civilians. The rebels in some areas say they have seen no sign of a let-up. In fact, witnesses report intense shelling in the city of Misurata today.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. is, quote, "not impressed by words." President Obama speaks in about 38 minutes from now. We will bring that to you live. He'll be talking about Libya. Today marks one week since that massive quake and devastating tsunami struck Japan. Survivors held silent vigils across the region to remember the victims.
Meanwhile, Japan's nuclear agency, today, raised the crisis levels on the damaged plant from Fukushima from a four to a five. It's a scale of one to seven, as you can see. Crews continue to try and cool those overheating spent fuel rods.
A judge has just issued a restraining order temporarily blocking the controversial Wisconsin law which reduced collective bargaining rights for state workers. Governor Scott Walker signed the law one week ago after a three-week fight that made national headlines. Democrats claim Republican legislators held a vote without the required 24 hours advance notice.
And as we mentioned a moment ago, the Fukushima nuclear crisis is now rated equally on a scale with Three Mile Island. Dr. Sanjay Gupta walks us through the risks and threats coming from the Fukushima nuclear plant, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Japanese media are reporting that some 380,000 people are in shelters now. And they have no idea when they'll be able to leave. Many of the shelters are without power or kerosene to properly heat them in the freezing temperatures.
Meanwhile, the classification of this nuclear disaster has risen to a five on a scale of one to seven. That puts it on par with Three Mile Island. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has an update from Tokyo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the big news, obviously, coming out of Japan has to do with the classification of this nuclear disaster. On a scale of one to seven, they're calling this now a five. Just to give you some context, Chernobyl was a seven. But this puts it on par with Three Mile Island as far as nuclear disasters go, meaning that this -- the impact of this disaster will have more than just local consequence. It will have more widespread consequences.
Obviously, the workers inside these plants still trying to contain this radiation, still trying to cool down these rods. They've had some positive movement over the last 12 hours, being able to get power lines, for example, hooked up to at least one of the reactors. They've got to make the power actually work and get these cooling systems back up. That's going to be a big key to this. But, obviously, all other methods being employed to try and cool these rods down.
In the meantime, these workers, again, operating without electricity, operating with very little protection and, obviously, being exposed to higher levels of radiation. We've heard the radiation levels have spiked from time to time. One of the highest levels actually being recorded just over the last day or so.
That is the situation sort of at the plant, but, obviously, so many people outside the evacuation zone really at risk. And so many people in these evacuation centers, 2,500 of them around that devastated area, and you're hearing some heartbreaking stories about elderly people being taken out of hospitals and nursing homes close to these nuclear plants and being taken to these evacuation centers. And because it's so cold, because the conditions are so terrible, these elderly people aren't even making it through the bus ride to these evacuation centers. A couple people died on the bus. A few more died at the evacuation centers.
This is the reality of what's happening on ground here. Really in so many ways, this was tragedy upon tragedy. Earthquake, tsunami and then, obviously, this bitter cold. All of it compounded by this anxiety about radiation. A mental health toll. The emotional health toll obviously very significant.
And right now there's a lot of attention being focused on it. This sort of heroic period, as we call it. But as the attention starts to fade, this emotional toll and mental toll is likely to get even worse.
A lot of concern as well about a plume of radiation possibly traveling across the ocean. It's unclear whether it will ever get to the West Coast. Right now the wind patterns keep changing. But, nevertheless, passengers, as well as cargo and mail, all being screened for radiation upon entering the United States. It's likely when we go home, we'll be screened as well. But so far, no particularly high levels of radiation have been detected. Certainly no levels of radiation that would impact on human health.
But, still, a lot going on here in Japan. Again, this -- they have search and rescue mission continuing. The anxiety of the radiation and people just hoping that the weather starts to turn and get a little bit warmer.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: All right, Sanjay's show will be this weekend from Japan. He'll focusing on the disaster and the radiation risks that people face. It's 7:30 a.m. Eastern on both Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Five elementary school students rushed to the hospital in D.C. You won't believe what another student is accused of giving them. That story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Let's have a latest look at the headlines and some stories that you may have missed.
Libya's government has announced an immediate end to military operations against its opponents. Western observers are skeptical.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, says the Libyan government will be judged by its actions, not statements. An opposition source told CNN that even as the government announced its cease-fire, it's troops were still firing in Misrata.
Last night the U.N. Security Council imposed a no-fly zone over Libya and ordered member states to take all necessary measure to protect civilians. President Obama is scheduled to make a statement in half an hour.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is calling the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant very grave. Japan today raised the crisis level to five on a seven-point scale. That's puts it on par with the 1979 Three Mile Incident in Pennsylvania, but still below the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union.
The new level five designation means severe damage to the reactor core. The release of radioactive material and several deaths from radiation are more likely.
Despite that, Japan's 12.4 mile evacuation zone is not being expanded.
Five students at a Washington, D.C. elementary school are said to be OK after swallowing or inhaling cocaine. Officials say one of the students brought the drug to school and shared with the others. The children ranged in age from 8 to 9. The child who brought in the cocaine has been charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Will the no-fly zone in Libya lead to military action from the United States? I'm going to break that down for you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
The Moammar Gadhafi regime is announcing an immediate cease-fire in Libya's civil war. Gadhafi's move comes after the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution that includes a no-fly zone.
Now let me read you a little bit of the resolution, I've got it right in from of me. This is from the official release from the United Nations Security Council. It reads, "The Council authorized Member States, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country..."
OK, and this is how they say it, "necessary measures." Quite simply, that's code for military action.
Ten Council members, including the United States, approved the measure.
Jamie Rubin joins me now. He's the former U.S. assistant secretary of state, he's now the executive editor of "The Bloomberg View."
Jamie, thanks for being with us.
What do you make of this, this declaration of a no-fly zone by the United Nations? Does this declaration in and of itself put something into action?
JAMIE RUBIN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "THE BLOOMBERG VIEW": Well, no. It's legal authority. But it shows an active leadership on the part of the U.N. Security Council and has already led to Gadhafi obviously saying that he's going to stand down and not take Benghazi. Twenty- four hours ago he was threatening no mercy to the people of Benghazi, this million-strong city in the east of Libya.
So the leadership has been taken by the United Nations Security Council. Imagine if the United States has decided two, three weeks ago to move in this direction and made that clear, publicly. I suspect Gadhafi would be in a different position, may have even left the country by now.
But in terms of military action, so far, it's an authority, it's a legal action. We'll now see by President Obama's statement in the next 20 minutes, half an hour, and statements of other countries of who is going to participate, how it's going to be coordinated.
A no-fly zone is only one thing. The part you read, Ali, it shows that you can use air power against Gadhafi's ground forces.
VELSHI: Right.
RUBIN: That is air strikes against those who might be moving forward.
VELSHI: Let me ask you, the Defense secretary had said when the no-fly zone was first discussed, he said you can't just impose a no- fly zone, you actually have to do other things.
Does it require air strikes?
RUBIN: Well, according to Defense Secretary Gates, a no-fly zone would require, initially, air strikes against air defense systems throughout Libya, those air defenses that is might threaten any planes patrolling to implement the no-fly zone. So according to Secretary Gates' statement, it would, and that's where things could get complicated.
Let's say this cease-fire really is implemented in the next day or so? And we'll know that from our own intelligence means in the coming hours. Would we then start launching air strikes? Would NATO countries begin to attack despite the cease-fire?
And this is again the complication of using these international legal instruments, which Gadhafi may choose to manipulate by one step forward, two steps back.
VELSHI: Let me ask you this, here is the issue, does -- and I think this might be what Defense Secretary Gates was getting at and that others have alluded to. Does the U.S. getting involved in the enforcement of this no-fly zone sort of commit the U.S. to more military involvement in Libya than it might be interested in at the moment?
RUBIN: You know, that is what Secretary Gates was implying. It's something that former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State Powell used to talk about.
I've never understood it. We can say what our interests are, we can say what our involvement is commensurate with those interests, just as President Clinton in the Bosnia and Kosovo conflict said it was worth conducting air strikes to stop Serbs from slaughtering Kosovo or Albanians, but not sending in ground troops. You can disagree or agree with it, he wasn't going to send in ground troops. Presidents and leaders don't have to get sucked in.
So I've never understood this slippery slope argument. We can use limited force for limited means, and I think what's happening here in Libya shows you --
VELSHI: Although, that didn't work out in Afghanistan or Iraq.
RUBIN: Well, no. In those cases we committed to overthrow a regime and sent in an invasion force to overthrow a regime. That's where we committed all of our military forces to the overthrow of a regime.
I'm just pointing out these kind of decisions in this world are going to come up over and over again, should the United States, should the West act, threaten force against a dictator like Gadhafi who is taking actions like these. Our first instincts are going to determine how that dictator sees us.
And right now it's still a bit of a mess in terms of whether the president is going to see American aircraft leading this effort, whether it's going to be a multi-national operation, who is going to coordinate it, who is going to make sure planes aren't mistaking one another over Libya. This is a very complex military operation.
Politically, it's good to have a lot of countries. It shows that it's the whole world against Gadhafi. But militarily, it can get complicated.
VELSHI: All right, Jamie, good to talk to you. Thanks very much to your analysis.
Jamie Rubin is the executive editor of "The Bloomberg News," the former assistant secretary of state in the United States.
All right, I want to -- I've got news that's just in I want to tell you about. I know a lot of you are concerned about this. Matthew Chance is on the phone, the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that minuscule radiation has been detected in California.
Matthew, are you there? What do you know about this?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Yes. Hi, Ali.
It's actually not U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, it's another organization called the CTBTO. It's one of the U.N. organizations, this one charged with monitoring nuclear exposures around the world in test bands and things like that.
It's got a network of monitoring stations around the world. It's one in Sacramento has detected radio nuclides, which are particles that emit radiation. These come from the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan where there are so many problems and where workers are trying to control that nuclear crisis there.
They've put out a map detailing the sort of route of the radiation and radioactive particles that's been, you know, kind of circulating around the world as a result of that nuclear crisis.
And today I was told earlier, this was about an hour ago by the head of that organization, their sensors in Sacramento had detected the first radio nuclides from Fukushima.
It was also followed up very quickly by the caveat that they were low levels and at this point they did not represent a threat to human health, Ali.
VELSHI: All right, again, I'm reading a quote from somebody who says -- and I don't know whether they're exaggerating or this is technical, it said, "About a billion times beneath levels that would be threatening to health."
CHANCE: Yes, that's -- that would -- I read that quote, too. And in fact, I asked the spokesperson of the IAEA, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency about that. And even though that billionth fraction may be a figure of speech, it's not fear at this point (INAUDIBLE) know what the level of radiation were that were measured in Sacramento.
The spokesperson made it very clear that we're talking about minuscule levels of radioactive materials that are being measured in the air. In no way, again, a danger to human health.
He did say that if the situation changed, if the reactor continues to emit radioactive particles into the air in the way it has been in Japan, then that situation may have to be reassessed.
VELSHI: All right, so for the moment, nobody is putting out any warnings and nobody is saying that you need to do anything about this?
CHANCE: That's right. Even in Japan, even in cities in Japan, what the U.N. is saying is that there is no actual real immediate danger from the radiation flow. So when you're talking about the United States so far away from where the reactor is emitting this radioactive dust into the air, there's not a problem at the moment, according to the U.N.
VELSHI: Yes, although any time you talk about radiation, people get really nervous or higher levels of it. Matthew, thanks very much. Keep us posted if you get more information or more detail about how much radiation there was and whether anybody can put into perspective whether or not that's safe or dangerous.
Matthew Chance on top of the story for us.
We're going to take a quick break. Our coverage of Libya, Japan and everything else going on in the world continues right after this break.
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VELSHI: In today's "Globetrekking," we want to get you to Yemen where the situation is deteriorating quickly. At least 33 people have been killed, more than 100 hurt in clashes between thousands of anti- government protesters and the country's security forces outside Sana'a University in the country's capital.
Yemen's president has now declared a state of emergency. President Barack Obama put out a statement a short while ago condemning the attacks and urged the Yemeni government to protect peaceful demonstrators.
CNN's Mohammed Jamjoon is watching this for us from Dubai. Mohammed, just bring us back into the situation. We talked about Yemen when things were developing in Tunisia and then Egypt and Bahrain. Set the stage for us again. Why is Yemen back in the news?
MOHAMMED JAMJOON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, over the course of the last three weeks, you've seen the anti- government movement in Yemen all across the country really gain momentum.
I was there reporting last month. You were seeing just thousands of people in the streets. Now it's grown. You have tens of thousands of people in the streets in several cities in Yemen calling for the ouster of president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The situation turning much more violent.
In the past couple of weeks, you've seen more clashes between anti-government demonstrators, pro-government loyalists, and security forces there. Now today, the last update we got from medics on the scene outside Sana'a University in Change Square (ph) is at least 40 anti-government demonstrators have been killed. Now, the government denies they had anything to do with this, that it wasn't their security forces. But medics and witnesses say the security forces first shot into the air, then shot into the crowd, trying to disperse the crowd earlier in the day. That's what resulted in all these deaths.
President Saleh has declared a state of emergency. We're not sure yet what that means. I've spoken to the spokesperson for the Yemen embassy in Washington, D.C. He expresses his condolences to the family, saying that this should be investigated and whoever is responsible for this should be brought to justice by Yemeni security forces. Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Mohammed, we'll stay on top of it with you. You'll continue to cover it from Dubai. Mohammed Jamjoom in Dubai for us.
With so many miles of devastation to cover, rescue teams in Japan are now using robots to help search for the missing and to reach survivors. Coming up next, we'll bring you a live demonstration of one amazing rescue robot. Wait till you see what this little thing can do.
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VELSHI: Well, a week ago, a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, leaving devastation in its wake. According to Japan's national police agency, 6,911 people are now confirmed dead; 10,316 are still missing.
With so many miles of devastation to cover, rescue teams have deployed search-and-rescue robots to help out with the search. Earlier this week, we looked at two of the robots that have been used in Japan.
Take a look at this. One of them is the active scope camera that you're looking at. It looks like a snake, goes in to search for people in rubble. It was also used after 9/11, about 26 feet of wire.
Now take a look at this one. This is the Quince, capable of driving over rubble, climbing stairs that aren't safe for rescue teams - imagine a mound of rubble that you're not sure if it's going to collapse. Or going somewhere with a camera where there might be radioactivity.
Now, today we don't have either of those machines with us. But today, we'll get a live demonstration of another robot that could be used in a future crisis here or abroad. It's called the Sect-2. Here to walk us through the specifics is robotics expert, professor Ayanna Howard from Georgia Tech here in Atlanta.
First of all, thanks for being here. It's only because people continue to do work on these things they can become useful and we can deploy them. Tell me what this Sect-2 is. This is a prototype --
AYANNA HOWARD, ROBOTICS PROFESSOR, GEORGIA TECH: This is a prototype. What we're trying to do is have enough terrain mobility to get to people who are in the rubble and also provide a telepresence for the human first responders.
VELSHI: OK. Tell me about the importance of that. We certainly get it because there's a nuclear issue here. There are places that we may want devices to go to see if there are survivors or see the condition of something. But this has been sort of the big move in search-and-rescue robotics, right? Telepresence.
HOWARD: Telepresence. What happens is that in order -- we can't send first responders because we don't want to put them danger. So, the robot become the human presence. So, you get to not only see but to navigate in areas you like as if you were there.
VELSHI: OK. Show me what this can do?
HOWARD: This one, we have a small scenario where we have some blocks. Typically, you'd have a first responder that can see. And we actually have a laptop where you can view what's going on.
VELSHI: OK. So, the laptop, which is over here, has a screen which is showing you what this is looking at. This little guy is taking a tour of our studio.
HOWARD: Correct.
VELSHI: It's on the laptop. You can see what it is seeing.
HOWARD: Correct. You just navigate and go where you want. Wherever you want.
VELSHI: Yes. Tell me -- as you develop these things, are these just for experimental purposes or do you have something in mind specifically for what this little guy can do? Do you design it with some particular rescue mission?
HOWARD: Yes. Our goal is really focusing on the algorithms. One of the things about having a first responder is that joy sick is not intuitive. So, how can we actually make this more intuitive? We actually work on things, like, can I just use voice commands? And say, "walk, robot. Find survivor." And it actually goes and navigates, still providing situational awareness for the first responder.
VELSHI: Can we get this guy to go over the blocks?
HOWARD: Yes, let's do this. I'm a bad navigator.
VELSHI: But that brings up a point, when you're out there deploying these machines, you have trained teams with them who know how to use them quite effectively.
HOWARD. Correct.
VELSHI: Let's see what we can get this little guy to do. OK, we're almost there. There we go! There we go! Got a little hung up on the block, but I think we kind of got the point of what he's able to do.
Something like this, if this were to be adopted and used by rescue teams, what kind of money would this cost?
HOWARD: So, we're estimating just based on hardware costs and some of the maintenance costs about 50k.
VELSHI: Shall we give him a little hand --
HOWARD: Oh, I actually just stopped it.
VELSHI: Oh, OK.
HOWARD: Would you like to touch it?
VELSHI: I don't know want to break it!
HOWARD: No! Feel the hardware.
VELSHI: They're meant to be fairly hardy, I assume. There's a nine volt battery on top of this.
HOWARD: Yes, so this is just -- in terms of a prototype, this has minimum power capabilities. In fact, it only lasts maybe about an hour. But what's nice about the platform is that you can see in terms of the mobility, it's really nice in terms of going over rubble, going over rocks.
VELSHI: Obviously, you can equip it whatever level of power or camera or anything you need.
HOWARD: Right. Sensors. You can even put an IR (ph) or heat sensor to see in the dark as well as night.
VELSHI: Well, thank you for bringing this out, and thanks for all the great work you do over at Georgia Tech and for helping us understand how these will play a bigger role in rescues. This one, because of the nuclear component to it, it's made these search-and- rescue robots that much more important.
Thanks very much, Ayanna. Great to see you.
HOWARD: Thank you.
VELSHI: For more on rescue robots, by the way and all of our "Big I's" you can go to CNN.com/ali. We're going to post links with more information.
Right now we're waiting to hear from President Obama. He's going to be speaking at the top of the hour about Libya. He'll be making a statement about Libya. We're going to be bringing that to you live.
I also want to talk to Wolf Blitzer before we get into that so we can have a bit of a conversation as to what the president is going to say and what it's going to mean for the activities, the no-fly zone and developments we're following closely in Libya. Stay with us.
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VELSHI: You're looking at a picture of the East Room, live pictures of the East Room, of the White House. We're waiting for President Obama to come out and offer his comments on Libya. As you know, the United Nations passed a no-fly zone, authorization to impose a no-fly zone on Libya. The Libyan government responded with an immediate cease-fire, although opposition leaders in Libya have told us -- or opposition forces have told us that the fighting has not stopped. The president has been meeting with congressional leaders now and he's going to come out. We don't know what he's going to say. But we do know it's going to be about Libya. We'll be waiting on that and will bring you that momentarily as soon as it happens.
In the meantime, we'll continue our coverage of the developments in Japan and in the Middle East. My understanding -- I'm just going to ask Sarah where it is we are going.
All right. There's some major developments out of Libya right now. President Obama is expected to address that situation as we just said. Witnesses are on the ground reporting explosions of gunfire, even though the government issued an immediate cease-fire today. The cease-fire announcement came just hours after celebrations erupted in the streets of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi as anti-government forces welcomed the news that the United Nations Security council had imposed a no-fly zone over Libya.
The U.N. move clears the way for military action. Countries like France, Britain and Spain have discussed what role they might play if Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi doesn't stop the attacks on his own people. A senior diplomatic source close to the issue says two Arab nations, Qutar and the United Arab Emirates, are showing a willingness to support international efforts against Gadhafi. Now, just a short time ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that Gadhafi will have to prove he's serious about honoring the cease-fire through his actions.
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HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Now, we've seen press reports of a cease-fire by the Libyan government. This is a fluid and dynamic situation. We are going to be not responsive or impressed by words. We would have to see actions on the ground. And that is not yet at all clear. We will continue to work with our partners and the international community to press Gadhafi to leave and to support the legitimate aspirations of the Libyan people.
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