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U.S. Warplane Crashes in Libya; Egyptian Ministry of Interior on Fire; Consequences of Criticism of Libya Action; Major Developments in Yemen; Japanese Death Toll Rising to Above 9,000; New Recommendations on Child Car Seats

Aired March 22, 2011 - 10:59   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: We have some breaking news that we are following here in the CNN NEWSROOM. This is out of Cairo, Egypt. This is in Tahrir Square, we believe.

This is actually pictures of the Ministry of Interior headquarters, which we are learning now is on fire. There are at least seven floors of the building that reports now that are on fire, that are burning. You can see that there, the pictures of the billowing black smoke coming from that building. Parts of the building, we are told, have started to collapse.

You are now looking at live pictures of this government building out of Cairo that is in flames. I am told that, rather, that it is not live, but this is tape-turned video that we are just getting in, parts of the building starting to collapse.

We are also told about 1,000 police officers are protesting in front of the building, protesting for higher wages and working conditions. It is unclear how this fire started or whether or not anyone has been injured at this point.

We are watching the pictures as you are, trying to get as much information as possible. But this is the Ministry of Interior headquarters in Cairo that is now on fire.

We're going to get back to those pictures. And as we get more information, we'll bring that to you.

I want to get you up to speed for Tuesday, March 22nd.

An American F-15 fighter jet crashed and burned in Libya today. The military says both crew members ejected when the jet developed mechanical problems. Rebels rescued the weapons officer and turned him over to the United States.

Now, a U.S. team also picked up the pilot. He is now aboard the USS Kearsarge in the Mediterranean. We're going to have a live report from the ship shortly.

Despite coalition planes in Libya's skies, Moammar Gadhafi's ground forces are coming down hard on Misrata right now. This amateur video appears to show a mortar shell that is landing near civilians. An opposition spokesman tells CNN the city will fall within hours unless the coalition helps.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED, LIBYAN OPPOSITION SPOKESMAN: The carnage is too much to bear. This is the fifth day of shelling and destruction and carnage. We already have 77 deaths, and we have a countless number of injuries, and almost the whole center of the city now is unsafe because of snipers. We haven't seen international strikes since the first day of strikes, and we are in urgent need of help. Otherwise, Misrata will be overrun tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Before-and-after satellite photos confirm that a mosque in Zawiya has been destroyed. A U.S. intelligence source tells CNN that those loyal to Gadhafi are responsible for the destruction. The mosque served as a command center for the resistance during the time they controlled Zawiya.

As predicted, the U.S. military scaled back its role in the Libyan campaign today. That's what happened today. A spoke woman says one of three submarines that fired Tomahawk missiles at Libya has now left the region. The military says it hit Libya with 20 Tomahawks in just the last 12 hours.

Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich told CNN this morning that Congress should cut off money for the Libyan operation. He is angry that President Obama didn't get congressional approval for those air strikes, and he says the president should be impeached.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: The Constitution makes it very clear that the Congress, under Article 1, Section 8, has the power to declare war. The president's commander in chief, but only after Congress takes action can he send troops into conflict. And so we're at a very serious moment of a constitutional challenge here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Libyans living in the United States here are closely watching the developments back home. Many left their home country decades ago when Gadhafi took power.

Our CNN affiliate Bay News 9 talked with Libyans in the Tampa area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all are praying to get rid of Gadhafi, bring Libya back to the international community to speak about freedom and the to speak about constitution and election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've lived as a foreigner all my life, almost. America has (ph) and belongs to my own country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: More now on Libya and the crash of that U.S. fighter jet.

Both crew members are safe, but the crash underscores the fact that U.S. troops are in harm's way. They could lose their lives in this conflict. And it highlights the role that we have now in air strikes on Libya.

I want to bring in our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence to explain some of this.

And Chris, first of all, can you tell us what happened with this F-15?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Suzanne, you know, no-fly doesn't mean no risk.

Basically, this F-15 was flying an air strike mission to try to take out some of more of Moammar Gadhafi's air defenses. It was flying overnight and encountered some mechanical problems.

Both of the crew members ejected safely, but they landed in different places. The pilot of the F-15 was picked up by an Osprey, which is an aircraft that launched off a U.S. warship just off the coast in the Mediterranean Sea. It was a Marine expeditionary unit that came in as part of that Osprey team, that came in and picked up the pilot.

Now, the weapons officer landed in a different area. We're told he was actually recovered by rebel forces. A defense official says the rebel forces treated him well and that he is now safe -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Chris, how were they rescued so quickly?

LAWRENCE: Well, they've got locators. There's a locator not only on the ejection seat, but also on the pilots themselves. They would have the means to speak in encrypted code, to communicate back with the ship. And we're also told that some British surveillance planes were also used to pinpoint the exact location of the two crew members.

MALVEAUX: All right. Chris Lawrence, at the Pentagon.

Thank you, Chris.

I want to go straight to Cairo again. We are taking a look at live pictures here, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior that is on fire. We understand that there are at least seven floors in the building that are burning.

Our own Ivan Watson is live from Cairo.

Ivan, can you give us a sense of what is taking place there behind you? I see the billowing smoke. Is that the building there? IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is the Interior Ministry. Let me get right out of the way, Suzanne, so you can see.

This is the headquarters of the Interior Ministry -- that's basically what runs the police in Egypt -- that we are seen going up in smoke, really, within the last half-hour. In a matter of minutes, we've seen the flames engulf the front and side of the building, and we've actually seen parts of it collapse in this inferno. There are firefighters on the scene, apparently trying to put out some of the flames that have spread to neighboring buildings.

Now, just a few hours ago, Suzanne, we were in front of the Interior Ministry because thousands of police officers, some of them in uniform, were demonstrating peacefully in front of the building, very energetically demanding higher wages. And we saw a procession of them march away from the Interior Ministry through Cairo's famous Tahrir Square, towards the headquarters of state radio and television. Again, peacefully. And then, within minutes, the place that they had left went up in smoke with these flames.

Very important to point out, Suzanne, on February 23rd, nearly a month ago exactly, we were here when there was another smaller protest in front of the very same building. And demonstrators apparently set fire to several cars and to the facade of one of the neighboring buildings in the Interior Ministry compound for Egyptian soldiers and firefighters were able to bring that blaze under control.

Not nearly as destructive as what we are seeing now. This clearly underscores the fact that Egypt is still facing instability, this political situation is still turbulent here, more than a month after the long-time president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown and pushed out of power -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Ivan, can you tell us how this fire started? Does it seem or look or appear as though it had something to do with the demonstrators and the protesters?

WATSON: Well, we spoke with a spokesman for the Interior Ministry just moments ago, Allah Mahmoud (ph). And he said that it's not clear who began this fire.

My colleague, Ian Lee, has been on the ground in front of the building. He says some of the demonstrators told him that the fire was ignited from within, basically alleging that this was some kind of an inside job.

We don't know the origins of this blaze. It is possible this could have been some kind of electrical accident. But I do think it's suspect, given that a month ago, there was a similar attempt to set fire to neighboring buildings.

We heard conflicting reports after that incident. Some people arguing that there were attempts to set fire to records inside the Interior Ministry so that they could be destroyed. Other arguments, that perhaps they were demonstrators themselves trying to commit acts of arson.

What is clear, Suzanne, is that this has long been a fortress, the headquarters of what the police state that has helped maintain order, an iron grip on the Egyptian society, on the Egyptian population, and we've seen it go up in smoke, really, in a matter of minutes -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Ivan, who is in that building? Are there people in that building right now? Are people being evacuated?

WATSON: At the time when we were there, Egyptian Interior Ministry officers were there. They were on guard duty.

Some of the demonstrators have climbed up onto some of the guard towers, onto the roofs of them, to participate in the demonstration. It is clear that some of the employees were still there. And at the time, there were police not only demonstrating and demanding higher wages, and actually insulting the Interior Ministry, it was a peaceful situation. And now we see this fire that just erupted. From this vantage point, I honestly cannot say if people have been caught inside the building amid this inferno.

MALVEAUX: Does it look like from your vantage point, Ivan, that they're able to control this blaze, or are they having a difficult time? We see a lot of black smoke. We've seen some planes as well. Are there a lot of personnel, emergency crew that are trying to put this out?

WATSON: From here, we've been able to see fire trucks on the scene not only hosing down the headquarters, but also neighboring buildings that caught on fire. And they were on some of the rooftops as well.

We also saw what appeared to be at least a floor of the building collapsing, Suzanne. That's within the last 25 minutes.

Just to give you a sense of how quickly this has burned, and a little bit more context, during the revolution that came from Tahrir Square, which is really less than a five-minute walk away from this building, there were ongoing clashes, deadly clashes, for days around the Interior Ministry between some of the police inside and demonstrators who were attacking the building at times, trying to protest in front of it. And we saw a constant stream of demonstrators coming away from the building with gunshot wounds. This was a target of the revolutionaries who wanted to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak and his police state, and another reason why -- another possible motive for why this could have gone up in flames right now.

MALVEAUX: And Ivan, you said before there were thousands of protesters who were demonstrating outside of this building before. Where are they now? Have they scattered, or are they chanting, are they cheering? How are people responding to this big fire now?

WATSON: Well, we saw within the last 45 minutes several thousand demonstrators marching in a peaceful procession that stopped traffic, marching away from the Interior Ministry, through Cairo's famous Tahrir Square, towards the headquarters of state radio and television, which has been a popular route for demonstrators throughout the instability and the popular uprising that Egypt has witnessed really since January.

So it did seem that the bulk of the demonstrators were leaving the Interior Ministry. So what is strange is that about 20 minutes after we saw them leave it, the building went up in smoke.

MALVEAUX: And from our vantage point, we can see some people on the roof. It looks like perhaps some firefighters or rescue workers there.

Can you see at all whether or not there are people that are either inside the building, close to the building, in any kind of danger from this fire, from this -- you said seven floors now burning.

WATSON: I'm afraid I cannot from this vantage point. And where we seem to see them with the fire hoses right now, that, I believe, is a neighboring building next to the Interior Ministry headquarters, which the fire appeared to have spread to that building -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So it is not just the Interior building?

WATSON: I think this just goes to underscore that we just witnessed an historic -- no, no, no. We saw it definitely spread to some of the neighboring buildings.

Now, some of these buildings, Suzanne, are part of the compound. They are affiliate buildings belonging to the Interior Ministry. To the right of it, the criminal records building, which a month ago, the facade of that building was torched after another demonstration involving former and current Interior Ministry employees.

The important thing to keep in mind here, Egypt witnessed an historic revolution, a mostly peaceful revolution within the last two months. The police were a source of anger and frustration because they had repeatedly attacked peaceful demonstrators in these very streets. This underscores the fact that this country is still far from stable in this post-revolutionary period -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Certainly.

Do you know anything more about the building, that building inside? Is that the place where people many talked about they were held, they were beaten by police? Some people alleged that they had been tortured. There were some journalists who had alleged that they had been taken away and held by Mubarak's forces.

Do you know of any of that, any of those facilities, or any of that kind of activity took place in that building that is now burning?

WATSON: I do know that this was the main -- it was the nerve center, the brain, if you will, of the police state. It was well fortified so that at the height of the democratic uprising here in Tahrir Square, when the police had almost completely disappeared from the streets of the Egyptian capital overnight, there were still a number of Interior Ministry employees inside that building. And they were fighting off approaches by demonstrators using, at some points, lethal force, shooting buckshot and shooting bullets at demonstrators who tried to approach that building at a time when we could not see any police presence anywhere else, not only in the Egyptian capital, but anywhere else throughout the city and the rest of country.

MALVEAUX: OK.

WATSON: Police stations around Egypt were targeted throughout that period, Suzanne. And they were a frequent target of the uprising and often set on fire. It's anybody's guess right now who was behind this blaze. And a spokesman for the Interior Ministry tells us he does not know who started this fire, or whether it was an accident or not.

MALVEAUX: OK.

Ivan Watson, on the ground there for us in Cairo, keeping a very close eye of this building that is on fire, a building that is important practically and symbolically for so many Egyptians who targeted and saw the police as the source of their frustration of than outrage. Not just the Mubarak government, but the police as well. Many alleging that the police were engaged in brutal acts against its own civilians.

One of those buildings now ablaze. It looks like that fire could be extinguished fairly soon.

We're going to have more details after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: You're now looking at breaking news, live pictures here out of Cairo, Egypt. This is the Ministry of Interior building.

As you can see, there's smoke, then black smoke that was billowing. There was a fire at that building earlier. It looks like, for the most part, it's been extinguished, about seven floors. Our own Ivan Watson saying that it was burning previously.

There were about 1,000 police officers who were outside of this building, protesting peacefully, we understand, before it caught fire. They were demanding higher wages and better working conditions.

This is a building that is significant to those in Egypt because it does house the police headquarters, among other things. But we're keeping a close eye on that development there in Cairo, Egypt, not far from Tahrir Square, where you had the major demonstrations and a revolt that overturned Hosni Mubarak's government there in Egypt.

Our big story of the day, the crash of the U.S. fighter jet in the ongoing military operation in Libya. Now, the jet experienced an equipment malfunction, is what we're told, and the military says that both crew members ejected safely.

Well, CNN's Arwa Damon, she is on the phone and she is at the crash site.

Arwa, give us a sense of the scene here. What actually took place?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi, Suzanne.

The airplane itself, interestingly, seems to be fairly intact in the sense that the debris from it is not spread over a large area. There are a lot of residents from the area still around the crash site. A lot of them telling us about how they heard the plane overhead. They knew or assumed that it was a foreign jet that was here to help them, they say, and once it crashed, they are telling us about how everyone in the area fanned out trying to find the pilots.

Now, we spoke with Colonel Abdul Hamid Mismati (ph). He is one of the only English speakers in the area.

He says he left immediately from his home. He's a member of the local military council here, and he began shouting in English, "It's OK, you're safe! You can come out. Please stand up. We want to help you."

Eventually, the American pilot did, in fact, stand up. The colonel telling us that he only seemed to be slightly injured on one of his ankles, saying that he seemed a bit dazed, wasn't very talkative at first.

They took him. The colonel describing how he thanked this American pilot, kissing him on both cheeks, hugging him, expressing his gratitude for the fact that he was flying these missions over Libya.

And eventually, they began chitchatting about their families, very, very basic things. The colonel telling us that this young pilot -- 27 years old, he said he was -- was around the same age as his son.

Everyone here, again, wanting to express their gratitude to the international community. Unfortunately, the colonel was telling us that while residents were on the ground trying to find the two pilots from the first fighter jet, a second one overhead did end up firing. The colonel saying, presumably, this fighter jet still in the air, not knowing if the two pilots were in friendly or enemy territory.

There were five people from the area who were wounded. None of those wounds fatal, though, at this stage -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: That's an amazing story when you think about it, how those two Americans crashed and they were greeted by -- I assume those are rebel forces. You said kissed them on both cheeks there.

Give us a sense of what is taking place where you are on the ground. What is happening now in eastern Libya?

DAMON: Well, you have -- the city of Benghazi really is the opposition stronghold sort of the core of all of this, that has been relatively safe ever since those fighters began flying their missions over Libya, really dealing a devastating blow to Gadhafi's military, stopping it in its tracks. Benghazi, fairly safe.

The opposition has been able to capitalize on that, pushing Gadhafi's forces further to the west, to the city of Ajdabiya, where we understand is now the current front line, as we can tell. We've had conflicting reports as to who controls that.

But there are also great concerns for other areas like Misrata, Zawiya (ph), where Gadhafi's forces, eyewitnesses say, are embedded in these cities, carrying out massacres against the population. And, of course, because they are amongst civilians, the air strikes cannot be used against them because the collateral damage, the civilian casualties, would simply be too high.

People are very concerned about what is going to happen since they're (ph) stuck there. But the opposition is very optimistic that, at the end of the day, they are going to be able to bring Gadhafi down. But they do realize that the road ahead is very tough, very difficult, and likely to be very bloody -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right.

Arwa Damon, there on the ground for us, watching what is taking place in Libya, and specifically what took place when that fighter jet went down, the Americans crashed. Both of them now safe.

Well, some Republicans and Democrats are openly criticizing President Obama for the U.S. involvement in Libya's air strikes.

Here is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. Our Carol Costello joins us with the "Question of the Day."

I mean, when you see that video, and when you realize those Americans went down, this is war. I mean, planes crash, fires happen. This is war.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. Our Chris Lawrence said no-fly does not mean no risk.

MALVEAUX: Right.

COSTELLO: So this is war. And we're glad those American crew members are safe. But you never know what might happen, because it's difficult to tell who is the enemy on the ground, as Arwa Damon said.

But already, one congressman is calling President Obama's decision on Libya an impeachable offense. No, it's not a Republican. It's a liberal lawmaker, Dennis Kucinich, who says the president needed congressional approval beforehand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KUCINICH: It's very clear that what President Obama did is beyond what the Constitution permits a president to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: On "JOHN KING USA," the criticism from Republican Senator Richard Lugar was less harsh, but it still stung.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD LUGAR (R), RANKING MEMBER, FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: I do not understand the mission, because as far as I can tell, in the United States there is no mission and there are no guidelines for success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And thus, potential Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, they jumped on the bash Obama on Libya bandwagon today. Wait a minute. Whether or not you agree with the president, U.S. troops, as we've been saying, are in harm's way.

So, should politicians keep their opinions under the radar? As Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a potential presidential contender, told Politico, "Whenever our men and women are involved in military action, every American stands with them. This is not the time to critique what the administration has done or will do."

So, "Talk Back" today: What are the consequences of openly criticizing the administration on Libya?

Write to me at Facebook.com/CarolCNN, and I'll read your answers, oh, probably in about 20 minutes or so.

MALVEAUX: And one of the things the president -- he's not in the country, he's on this Latin American tour. And there is this understanding, at least among lawmakers, you don't criticize the president and what he does when he's overseas. We see that people have already started to criticize.

I wonder if there's going to be even more criticism when he comes back.

COSTELLO: Yes. I bet he can't wait to get home, right?

But I think that something is flying under the radar here. The president did consult with a vast number of lawmakers by phone. He sent a letter to Congress, as he's supposed to do. So he did all that, but, still, this criticism is coming from the far right -- from the far left, I should say, and from the right.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

MALVEAUX: Another global hotspot, that is Yemen. What changes in the government there could mean for the fight against al Qaeda.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: Protests continue to build up. Across the Arab world, hundreds took to the street in Syria in demonstration over the death of an anti-government protester killed in clashes with security forces.

Meanwhile, a major development, the uprising in Yemen. That is where the President Ali Abdullah Saleh's grip on power may be slipping. Our Mohammed Jamjoom, he is in Abu Dhabi with more on this.

If you can tell us, we are hearing that Saleh could be stepping down. He's been in power since the late 1970s.

Do we expect him to leave office?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's been a lot of contradictory reports today, Suzanne. But I just got off the phone a few minutes ago with a ruling official in Yemen who told me President Saleh today offered a plan that he would step down from the presidency in early 2012, that he would work from now till 2011, to try to basically lay the foundation for a peaceful transfer of power, that he's made that proposal to the opposition.

But the opposition is in no mood to negotiate. The spokesperson for the opposition parties there told me there's no way they're going to accept anything short of President Saleh resigning and resigning now. And he said he believes the next few hours will be decisive for Saleh.

More and more officials in Yemen today believe that Saleh and his position the last few weeks and being so entrenched and refusing to step down has really made the situation much more perilous in Yemen. There's so many more protesters out in the streets. So many people have been killed in clashes with security forces there.

They believe the country may be on the verge of civil war because there are different military factions that may be clashing with each other depending on their divided loyalty. So a lot of concern in Yemen right now. Opposition in no mood to negotiate.

Saleh says he's ready to step down, but the opposition has to accept his proposal before they can go forward, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And so far Mohammed, that has not happened. There's an offer on the table, but they're not willing, they don't want to negotiate with him?

JAMJOOM: That's right. They don't want to negotiate. The opposition says they want him to resign. The opposition is very much with the youth revolution movement in Yemen right now.

Yesterday we satisfactory a wave of defections from military commanders to ambassadors resigning. They all say they want Saleh to go. They're in no mood for him to stay any longer. People say the government there is corrupt, Saleh has been in power too long and he needs to step down. President Saleh today in a speech to the nation said he wanted to make sure that there were no fishers with the armed forces, that that were no divisions there, that that could lead to civil war. He said that he wants to make sure that the generals that deflected yesterday come back into the fold.

But the fact of the matter is, the people he's speaking with don't seem to be in any mood to talk the back to him.

MALVEAUX: And Mohammed, this is obviously a problem for the Obama administration. The president has said that Yemen is a hot bed for al Qaeda, right? But the White House has worked closely with this President Saleh and the government to go after terrorists there.

So if the government collapses and if the president leaves, what happens next? What does that mean for the strength of al Qaeda in that country?

JAMJOOM: Well Suzanne, this is one of the key concerns for the U.S. right now. The U.S., even though sometimes they don't see Saleh as a very good partner in the fight against terror, he is a key ally for them.

Yemen has become the home base for the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. They group has become embolden and resurgent in the past few years. They've tried to plan spectacular attacks against the west from within Yemen. They keep trying to plan more.

Now, many people I speak with in Yemen believe that Saleh has tried to get more funding from the U.S. and tried to make al Qaeda sound like it's worse than it actually is. But the U.S. very concerned about al Qaeda there. They don't have anybody that can come in and fill Saleh's shoes. Saleh, even though a lot of people in Yemen are angry with him, he's been able to skillfully navigate tribal alliances in Yemen for the past 32 years and stay in power.

And there's nobody that's come up as a potential person to replace him. And that's a concern for the U.S. right now, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Big concern. Thank you very much.

Mohammed Jamjoom, we appreciate it.

Well, what is the United States fighting for and what's the strategy in Libya? We're going to talk with retired General Russel Honore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

So the U.N. mandated Libya is to protect civilians. But for many, the definition of the mission and the role of the United States is unclear. Joining us from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, via Skype, CNN contributor and retired Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore.

General, thanks for joining us here. I want to start off first. This mission here to stop Gadhafi forces in Benghazi, that essentially was successful, so the U.S. and the U.N. helped these rebel forces reconstitute. But are we simply supporting a protracted civil war now in Libya?

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), CNN CONTRIBUTOR Well, that will lay out in the next few days, Suzanne, and I agree with the observation that the initial objective of stopping them from killing the civilians has been achieved.

But I think the long-term capability of Gadhafi forces will have to be degraded to prevent them from continuing to attack civilians or the rebels in other cities, which means we have to downgrade the command and control and downgrade his logistics so he can't continue to attack the people.

MALVEAUX: Have we not just simply intervened in a civil war, essentially taking a side, siding with the rebels?

HONORE: Well, that -- it is what it is. And at this point in time, you know, the civil war, this thing builds over time, I'm not quite -- we're seeing the acts of a civil war, but whether this can be characterized, we don't have a defined leader on the rebel side yet. We don't have the defined government. We've got the will for freedom.

So I think that's going to have to be matured a little bit more. There's got to be the logistics base and the ability to take on Gadhafi's army. We know the U.S. government objective is for him to go away, over.

MALVEAUX: And so, General, just to be clear, you say it is what it is. Is the fact that we really don't know what it is right now?

HONORE: Yes. There's a lot of ambiguity. Now, inside of ambiguity, people are getting uncomfortable with this, but this can also be a great opportunity because if you think we're confused, you can only imagine how confused Gadhafi is now. And there's one thing the United States military does, we can operate well inside of confusion and get the mission done.

MALVEAUX: What does the president need to do, President Obama, when he returns back here to the United States? What does he need to tell the American people who may not be able to stomach another military operation here?

HONORE: I think from everything I'm seeing and the people I'm talking to, the American people is generally with the president. I think he's got to get his buddies over in the Congress and the representatives from those shout out messages about an impeachable offense.

I don't think that rates (ph) went well with the troops out in the field when they're out putting their lives on the line, we've got a member of Congress -- I don't know if his Google numbers are down or what, out shouting this is an impeachable offense. Whereas we need to get him back and community with the Congress on what the mission is. And there are constitutional ways for them to influence the actions on the ground.

MALVEAUX: And General, just finally here, we saw that F-15 go down, really underscoring here that thank god those pilots were safe, but that people die in war and this is a risky adventure that is being taking place.

Do you think that this is worth it for the United States to be involved in this international coalition?

HONORE: You know, Suzanne, we went to World War I to stop tyranny. We went through World War Ii for the same reason. We follow that track (ph) out. We believe in freedom and we don't believe tyrants ought to have the ability to kill their people.

MALVEAUX: All right.

HONORE: I think this is a moral obligation we have as a free nation.

MALVEAUX: General Russel Honore, thank you for joining us here in the NEWSROOM. I appreciate it.

In a moment, a closer inspection of the crippled nuclear plant in Japan. Our Jacqui Jeras takes us through all of those reactors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: From Japan, some grim news. The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami has climbed above 9,000 now. More than 13,000 are still missing. Smoke is still rising from two crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant and tests have detected radiation now in sea water near that plant, as well as in the tap water.

Now, Japanese health officials say that babies in that area should not drink the water. The U.S. Military may evacuate thousands of troops and their families in Japan as a precaution against radiation.

Our Jacqui Jeras is going to map out for us exactly what is happening at these damaged nuclear plants and these specific reactors still very much active, it seems.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. We're going to start you out with a little bit of good news that CNN has just learned. And that is that in reactor number three, the power has been restored to the control room. So that is a little bit of good news.

That's all we know about that. It doesn't necessarily mean that the cooling system is working, but that's good news and certainly moving in the right direction.

There's six reactors in all. Five and six do have working cooling systems and they're working on a generator. So the big focus now, reactors one, two, three and four. And so, let's break it down for you. We're going to start out with reactor number one and those fuel rods that have the nuclear stuff in it have been partially exposed. The building itself, look at that, has been severely damaged, but the containment vessel, they're saying, isn't damaged. So that is good. And they're trying to get power restored to all of these, obviously.

Now, number two, the fuel rods here have been exposed too. The building itself hasn't received as much damage. There's some here, but look at it. It's mostly intact. But it's what's inside that's of concern, and that's that core and the shell that surrounds the core that there could have been a little bit of damage in there and that's the concern. They hope to have power, they're hoping to have this done on Tuesday as well as into the middle of the night now as we head into Wednesday morning.

But the seawater that they've been pumping into reactors one and two caused a little more damage than they thought. Seawater has salt in it, so it's corrosive and they're going to have to repair some of the parts in the building before they can get that power up and running.

All right, we'll take you into reactor number three. This is the one that has the power restored now into the control room. Of course, they're hoping to get power throughout the cooling system altogether.

The fuel rods have been partially exposed here. The other concern are those pools that we've been talking about that contain the spent fuel rods. They've been pumping the water into there, trying to keep them cool. The building itself has been severely damaged, so there's really nothing in between that pool and the blue skies. So that is of great concern. And they do have that power, as I mentioned, restored in that area.

And last but not least, this is reactor number four. And take a look at the extensive damage that's been caused to the building. In this area, there was one fire here and also at least one explosion. The building damaged severely.

The pool containment is the primary concern. So that is the one holding those spent fuel rods. They're having a hard time keeping that full. There's a little bit of a question as to whether or not maybe that has been compromised and that the water has been leaking out and that's why they're having a hard time keeping that full and keeping that cool, and they do hope so restore power to that, again, in the next -- it could happen any time. They're hoping for Tuesday. Obviously, we've passed that window. Hopefully we'll find out some more good news like we did with number three.

MALVEAUX: Well, we're hoping for the good news. That's all very informative. And we're going to be speaking with an operator who operated in three different plants in the United States to talk about the timeline, just how fast, how quickly can they actually resolve all of that that is taking place.

JERAS: Well, it's been amazing that they've been maintaining these pretty well over the last couple of days. Other than that smoke that was coming out of number three on Monday, we haven't seen anything major occur. That's good.

MALVEAUX: OK. Good news. Thanks, Jacqui, appreciate it.

We'll have more after the break.

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MALVEAUX: Breaking news. You're looking at some live pictures, want to take you to Cairo, Egypt. That is where the Ministry of Interior building was on fire earlier today. It looks like that fire has basically extinguished. There were about seven floors, we're told, that actually experienced some flames that were in that building. This is video from earlier today.

This is an important site for many. There were thousands of people, demonstrators who gathered outside of this building in a peaceful protest. Police, officers who wanted better wages and working conditions, and then this fire erupted.

But this is the headquarters of the police inside of that building. As you know, the police a target of many of the demonstrations that took place before because of alleged abuses there. This happening before the toppling of Mubarak's government there taking a look at some pictures.

We're also getting a lot of responses, today's "Talk Back" question. We asked you, what are the consequences of openly criticizing the administration on Libya. Well, our Carol Costello, she's up next with your responses.

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MALVEAUX: Some lawmakers are openly criticizing President Obama for the U.S. involvement in Libya, while others are backing his decision. Well, that's what we're talking about today in today's "Talk Back." Carol Costello joining us with your responses.

Hey, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, some harsh criticisms out there. So our "Talk Back" question today: What are the consequences of openly criticizing the administration on Libya?

This from Steven, "A more important questions is, what are the consequences of not openly criticizing the administration on Libya?"

This from Richard, "The consequences are that it weakens the strength of the president's image."

This from Will, "I hope grandstanding politicians of all stripes will finally stop flapping their lips on TV just so they can get more attention. I'm not holding my breath, though."

This from Michael, "The consequences are you get a president who doesn't go off and involve us in another war without congressional approval. Support the troops, yes, but let's do it the legal way." And this from Kim, "Unbelievable...somebody go throw a cream pie in Dennis Kucinich's face and tell him to shut up."

Continue the conversation, Facebook.com/CarolCNN, and I'll see you again in about 15 minutes or so.

MALVEAUX: All right, see you in 15. Thanks, Carol.

Kids, you're not going to like this, they can't ride shotgun until they turn 13. That's just one of the new car seat guidelines for children every parent needs to know.

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MALVEAUX: The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending major changes on how and where your kids should be seated in cars. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There's some new recommendations coming out of the American Academy of Pediatrics, specifically about car seats and saying up until the age of 2 or until they exceed the height and weight restrictions on the rear-facing car seat should stay in one of those. It was previously 1 year, 20 pounds.

This is Mikey (ph), he's 23 months, he is in a rear-facing car seat, and this is what the American Academy of Pediatrics say should be happening. They should stay in a rear-facing car seat until they are 2 years old at least or exceed those requirements.

Now, this is based on a lot of data, actually showing that car seats that are facing rear are much safer. Parents are better than ever about keeping their kids in car seats and second of all, the number of deaths in car accidents of children have gone down as a result.

What they're saying, though, if you look at a rear-facing car seat, if there's an accident, the force is sort of distributed across the body as opposed to just on the head here, and that's what they say makes all the difference.

So Mikey should be in a rear-facing car seat. Children up until 4'9" should be in a booster seat, and they say children 13 and under should always sit in the rear seat.

Now, kids aren't always going to be happy about this, you can see this here possibly, but they say this is going to be much safer. And they say if a child has actually started sitting in a front seat but it doesn't meet the guidelines yet, they should actually switch back.

And one of the things you may notice here is the legs may be a little squished, especially if a child is tall. You can buy bigger rear-facing car seats. They say, typically, if a child has not switched already to a front-facing car seat, they really are not going to be too bothered by it. And Mikey doesn't seem too bothered by it.

But again, some new recommendations coming out of the American Academy of Pediatrics, hopefully providing some additional safety for a lot of children out there.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Mikey and Sanjay Gupta, got to love it.