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Blast at Main Jerusalem Bus Station; How U.S. Crew Members Were Rescued in Libya; Higher Levels of Unsafe Radiation Found in Food, Unrest Escalating in Syria; Water in Japan; Elizabeth Taylor 1912- 2011

Aired March 23, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Let's get you up to speed for Wednesday, March 23rd.

A terror attack now hitting Jerusalem today. A bomb attached to a phone booth exploded as a bus drove by. Officials say that 20 to 30 people were wounded, but fortunately no one was killed.

Today's bombing follows rising tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. Militants in Gaza fired rockets into southern Israel. That happened yesterday. Well, Israel responded with air strikes.

Joining us now from Jerusalem, David Horovitz, editor of "The Jerusalem Post." He is going to be joining us about the latest that is taking place on the ground. But we are now looking at pictures out of Jerusalem. You can see the scene there.

A lot of questions, a chaotic scene before, as people scramble to safety to figure out what had actually occurred, what took place. This comes amid a great deal of tension in the Middle East, and this is just the latest that we have seen. This, coming out of Israel, between Israelis and the Palestinians, a conflict and, as you know, a peace that has not been achieved in that particular area.

We are still waiting for more information, but you can tell from the pictures there, folks are on the phone, trying to get information, clearing the streets. The emergency personnel, trying to evacuate the scene.

We understand that we have a medic who is on the phone now who is joining us.

Sir, can you give us your name?

YONATAN YAGODOVSKY, ISRAELI MEDICAL SERVICES: My name is Yonatan Yagodovsky, and I'm with the Israeli Emergency Medical Services.

MALVEAUX: And what are you seeing? Where are you now?

YAGODOVSKY: I'm at the scene. We are about clearly two hours after the explosion.

It occurred a little bit -- a few minutes after 3:00 our time, next to a bus stop area where local civilians and buses were collecting passengers. The device exploded at the street next to one of the bus stops. Thirty-five people that were waiting for buses (INAUDIBLE) buses that were at the station.

MALVEAUX: Was it crowded?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry?

MALVEAUX: Was it crowded?

YAGODOVSKY: Yes, it's a very crowded area all day long, but especially at the time that it happened. It's after school hours. People are beginning to go back from their work, taking public transportation, so the area was very crowded at this time.

Thirty-five people were injured and were taken to hospitals in Jerusalem. One of them is in critical condition, three are severely injured, and the rest are lightly to moderately injured from shrapnel and from the explosion itself.

They're being treated and examined in hospitals in Jerusalem for about an hour and a half now. And in addition to the medical situation, we also -- our blood services have sent a shipment of nearly a hundred blood units and blood (INAUDIBLE) from our main blood services to the hospitals in Jerusalem to reinforce their medical abilities and supply additional blood to them.

MALVEAUX: We are learning that so far, no one has died from this explosion. Is that your understanding?

YAGODOVSKY: From what I know, nobody has died at the scene. All the casualties that we have taken to the hospitals were alive.

I hope and I pray that those critically and severely injured will be able to survive their injuries. And we will know more within the next few hours, after they will be receiving definitive treatment in the surgical wards in the hospitals. And then the doctors there will be able to give us better information about their current situation.

MALVEAUX: We are seeing pictures now. I know this explosion, you said, happened about 90 minutes ago.

Can you give us a sense of what is taking place on the street now? It looks like it was quite chaotic.

YAGODOVSKY: Well, now traffic has regained. Police opened the roads, and public transportation is continuing and private cars are already moving on both sides of the street.

There are lots of people gathering around, a lot of television and radio reporters are in the area. People are still curious to see what happened.

Fortunately, it's been quite a long time since the last explosion in the city of Jerusalem, more than seven years, but we've already been through other terrorist attacks in the last few weeks in the area and in other places in Israel. And it's simply curious to see what's going on.

There is a lot of commotion. But slowly, regular traffic and normality will regain, and people will start going home. The sun is going down here, and I hope that commerce will regain in the area -- resume in the area.

MALVEAUX: Mr. Yagodovsky, we certainly wish you the very best. We thank you for your account there.

I want to bring in David Horovitz. He is editor of "The Jerusalem Post."

David, are you with us?

DAVID HOROVITZ, EDITOR, "THE JERUSALEM POST": I am, yes.

MALVEAUX: What happened here? What is your understanding?

HOROVITZ: It's becoming quite clear now that this was not a suicide bombing, but an explosive device that was left at a bus stop, very near the main bus station in Jerusalem, very close to my office, where I'm speaking to you from now. It exploded as a bus was at the stop.

There were something like 20 to 30 people injured, but of them, three or four quite seriously. One of them, a woman, we understand, is now fighting for her life. And the police are now trying to find the person who left the bomb.

MALVEAUX: Do they have any sense? Have you talked to anybody who might have seen someone leave the device, or is this just a chaotic scene right now?

HOROVITZ: Well, it's still fairly chaotic, although this happened, I would guess, more than an hour ago now. I haven't seen or heard anybody who claims to have seen the bomber leaving the device.

We have had the various police chiefs and relevant ministers describing the bomb which was left in some kind of wheelie bag, kind of a light roll-on kind of bag, quite close to where the bus pulled up. You know, they're trying to work out, how come nobody saw it? Because the security forces (ph) in Israel thought maybe it was just left moments before the bus pulled up, and nobody knows a great deal more about that yet, as far as I know.

MALVEAUX: And David, you say your office is fairly close to where this happened. What did you actually see or hear?

HOROVITZ: Unfortunately, we're very close to the main ambulance station and very close to the entrance of the city, so when things go bang -- and they often have in recent years -- we sometimes hear the explosion. We didn't hear the explosion, but you immediately hear the ambulances beginning to wail.

And this is a country that has endured many years of bombings much more terrible even than this horrible attack. By our relative standards, you know, of the years past -- there was a period in 2001, '02 and '03, what's known as the Second Intifada, or the Terror War, when almost every day in Jerusalem you knew people were trying to kill you. We've had some years of calm. And I think the concern now, apart from the actual victims of this attack today, is whether this marks the beginning of some kind of new wave of terrorism.

MALVEAUX: David Horovitz, editor of "The Jerusalem Post."

Thank you very much. Obviously, if you have more details, we'll get back to you on what has occurred there.

A bombing. We know that a bomb that was left near a phone booth, 20 to 30 people reported injured as they've been taken to the hospital. A breaking news story that we'll be following throughout the next couple of hours.

Well, NATO is meeting on Libya today. Ministers are expected to vote on a plan to take military control of the operation. Political control reportedly would remain with the coalition. And that gives a voice to two Arab states that are not NATO members, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. President Obama has said that he expects the U.S. to hand off control within days.

Coalition planes bombed Gadhafi's troops and tank at Misrata today. They town has been under siege for a week now, and rebels say they could not hold out much longer. Witnesses say a massacre is taking place in Misrata. Tanks are firing at civilians. Rooftop snipers are picking off anybody on the streets.

President Obama admits that Gadhafi could hunker down and keep his old on Libya, but the president tells CNN en Espanol that he hopes that the opposition can reset now and push Gadhafi out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously, we're deciding with the coalition what steps can be taken. I think that our hope is that the first thing that happens once we've cleared this space is that the rebels are able to start discussing how they organize themselves, how they articulate their aspirations for the Libyan people, and create a legitimate government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, Gadhafi appeared defiant during a rally at his compound in Tripoli last night. He says the Libyan people are laughing at the coalition's attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): We are losing the international world against imperialism, against despots. And I tell you, I do not scare -- nothing scares me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, Gadhafi, he's all bluster in public, but privately, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that the Libyan dictator is looking for a way out.

Clinton spoke with ABC's Diane Sawyer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANE SAWYER, ABC NEWS: Are you saying that there is someone close to him on his behalf reaching out to say, how do we get out, how does he get out?

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is what we hear from so many sources, Diane. It is a constant --

SAWYER: Today.

CLINTON: Today, yesterday, the day before. Some of it, I'll be very -- it's my personal opinion -- some of it is theater. A lot of it is just the way he behaves. It's somewhat unpredictable.

But some of it, we think, is exploring. You know, what are my options? Where could I go? What could I do? And we would encourage that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, Japan's nuclear crisis took another scary turn today. Tap water in Tokyo, a city of 13 million, is contaminated with radioactive debris. Levels are twice now the amount considered safe for babies. Officials also increased restrictions on food today. Eleven types of vegetables tested positive for radioactivity.

Hong Kong today banned food imports from five regions of Japan. The government says that Japanese turnips and spinach contained as much as 10 times the accepted levels of radiation.

Black smoke poured from reactor number 3 at the Fukushima nuclear plant. That happened today. And authorities evacuated workers, but say that the radiation levels have not spiked today. Two workers were injured while working with an electrical panel, and despite constant setbacks, crews say that they're making some progress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It has settled down quite a lot compared to the beginning, and we could even begin to see a bright hope that maybe it would somehow work out in a little bit. We are constantly switching over all the time since the work cannot be stopped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the day's big stories.

So President Obama signed the health care bill. That happened one year ago. You might remember how polarizing that battle was. That was a tough one. And a new CNN poll released today shows that Americans are still basically unchanged in their view of this bill. Thirty-seven percent of Americans support the measure, 59 percent oppose.

Now, last March, 39 percent supported this law, 59 percent opposed. About 13 percent of those opposed say the bill did not go far enough.

Well, Carol Costello, she's joining us with today's "Talk Back" question.

I remember covering President Obama. He was traveling all the time trying to sell that, and it was a really tough sell.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And was it only a year ago that he signed that bill into law? Only a year. It seems like a hundred years ago, doesn't it? And it's still going on right now -- the fight, that is.

The health care battle has been polarizing all right. Think angry town halls, talk of death panels. And congressmen from both sides, insulting their opponents.

Oh, and it's not over. Not by a long shot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): The political fight over health care was exhausting, historic.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MAJORITY LEADER: The bill is passed!

COSTELLO: On the day it passed, Democrats cheered. And on the day President Obama signed the health care law, Vice President Joe Biden inadvertently told America just how amazing it was.

Was it ever. And still is, in so many ways.

The health care debate helped fuel the Tea Party movement.

OBAMA: I told John Boehner --

COSTELLO: It paved the way for a shellacking for Democrats in the midterm elections. And the repercussions continue. It was just this past January the newly Republican-led House voted to repeal what Republicans call Obamacare.

REP. JOHN KLINE (R), MINNESOTA: The American people flat out reject a Congress to sweep through legislation without engaging the American people.

COSTELLO: And that's not all. Florida and 25 other states filed lawsuits alleging the Affordable Health Care Act is unconstitutional. Various judges have ruled in various ways, and that surely means a final decision on health care will land in the U.S. Supreme Court's lap.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Oh, the memories. This surely will play a role in the 2012 campaign. Just this morning, Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and Tom Pawlenty blasted the law, saying it infringes on individual rights and calling for its repeal.

So, "Talk Back" today: Was the health care battle worth it?

Send me your comments, Facebook.com/CarolCNN, and of course I'll read your responses later this hour.

MALVEAUX: And Carol, you know, the Obama administration always said if they just get to know the bill, they'll like it better, that this is a huge accomplishment. But still, a year later --

COSTELLO: Well, it's still a year later, and after all that's happened, I mean, isn't it up to the administration to kind of explain what this means to the American people? And many people don't believe the administration has done that just yet.

MALVEAUX: They're trying.

COSTELLO: They're trying.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

MALVEAUX: All right. Looking forward to those responses.

Another breaking news story that we're following. Legendary movie star Elizabeth Taylor died today at a hospital in Los Angeles. She suffered from congestive heart failure. Taylor was famous for her striking beauty on screen. And off screen, her eight marriages earned her endless notoriety.

Taylor won two Academy Awards, and she became an international star at just the age of 12. A biographer called her "The Last Movie Star."

Here's what's ahead "On the Rundown."

We are learning more about the recovery of those two U.S. airmen whose fighter jet went down in Libya. We're going to go behind the headlines to tell you what we found out.

Also, we're going to check out the impact Japan's disaster is having on companies here in the United Sates.

And the unrest in the Middle East impacting Iran's main ally in the region. We're going to take a closer look at the situation in Syria.

And President Obama speaks to CNN about some of the pressing issues of the day, including that military operation in Libya.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS REPORT)

MALVEAUX: We want to go beyond the headlines now on the recovery of those two airmen after their fighter jet crashed in Libya. We're learning more about how the chain of events played out. And in the end, U.S. forces rescued the pilot and anti-Gadhafi rebels found the weapons officer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At first he was afraid. But I am joking with him and I am kissing him. And I tell him, "You are coming for us. You are our brothers. So don't be afraid. You will be safe. We will carry you for any place you want."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: For more details on the crash and the recovery, I want to bring in our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, and also our Arwa Damon, who is in Benghazi. She's in Libya.

I want to start with you, Arwa, because you were essentially at the site. Can you walk us through what happened when those two crew members ejected from their plane, parachuted to the ground, had no idea what they were going to be dealing with, and they come across some civilians?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Suzanne. That is at least what eyewitnesses and residents in the area were telling us.

They said that they realized that the fighter jet was in distress when they saw it crash. Everyone who lived in the area, rushing out of their homes, combing through. They did manage to find the weapons officer.

You heard the colonel there talking about him, how in the beginning he was very hesitant about coming out, not realizing if he was in friendly or enemy territory. And eventually, he did make it safely out of Libya.

The colonel did, however, also tell us that at some point during that rescue effort, whether it was from the second fighter jet overhead or another aircraft that came in, fired on the civilians. The colonel says that he believes it was because they were trying to protect their own men on the ground. Five people were wounded, and none of them life-threatening, although one man, we are told, did lose his leg.

The population in the area, interestingly, though, not all that upset in the sense that they're very understanding that these servicemen didn't know if they were in friendly or enemy territory, the military not knowing if its own men were in friendly or enemy territory, realizing that they did have to take these measures to try to protect their own people on the ground. And everyone, Suzanne, really wanting to put forward a message of gratitude, of thanks to the U.S., to France, to all of the countries that are standing with them in this effort. MALVEAUX: So, Arwa, tell us, when the weapons officer landed and he was greeted, what happened?

DAMON: Basically, according to what the colonel is telling us, eventually, of course, they did find him. He seemed a bit dazed, wasn't too talkative. He said that he didn't want to disclose too much information about himself.

He did originally say that he was flying the plane on his own. Obviously, we know that not to be the case.

Eventually, he was given some food, water, a bit of medical treatment. We were told he was taken to a hotel to rest, and eventually he was handed over into U.S. custody at some stage. We're not really entirely sure about the details on that -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: I understand that there were those who kissed him on both cheeks, welcomed him, that he got quite a reception when they found him.

DAMON: Yes, that's right, Suzanne. That's what the colonel was telling us, wanting to express his gratitude.

He said this was a young man, 27 years old, the age of his own son. They also said that when they took him to a civilian air base, the people there began clapping him, welcoming him, everyone really thanking him, realizing that those people, the weapons officers, the pilots flying overhead, are taking on a certain level of risk to protect the Libyan population.

And people are grateful for that, because without that, Suzanne, the reality is that they firmly believe that Gadhafi's military machine eventually would have massacred all of them. And we're already on the front lines seeing the impact of what those air strikes and the no-fly zone has done.

We just got back from the outskirts of Ajdabiya, where the opposition has managed to push the front line from around 30 miles outside of the city to just two or three miles outside of the city. Air strikes there this morning, eyewitnesses are telling us, destroyed three of Gadhafi's tanks. So they do realize what the impact of this is, and they do realize and appreciate the risk that those involved are taking.

MALVEAUX: All right. Arwa, we thank you very much.

Barbara, I want you to talk a little bit about what Arwa was saying, that the military, after this plane went down, that the U.S. dropped bombs in the area where those pilots landed. Can you explain that?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, once the pilot was down, Suzanne, and saw people approaching him, by all accounts he did say -- perhaps radioed overhead that he needed help. When a U.S. military pilot is down, essentially in enemy territory, and people are approaching him, he has no way of knowing whether these are friendly forces, enemy forces, or whatever. So two Marine Corps jets in fact did drop 500-pound bombs in that area to keep these people back. There was surveillance overhead very quickly to try and keep an eye on the pilot, see where he was. They had already launched a rescue mission to try and come and get him, and of course that was going to potentially put more U.S. rescue forces on the ground. These things have a way of escalating, so what they try and do in these situations is very quickly get eyes on the downed pilot, keep their eyes on the downed pilot, and keep anybody away from him so they can land, pick up, and get him to safety in this case -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Amazingly, Arwa says that they were not really upset about that, that the Libyans said, well, we understand, because they didn't know whether or not this was enemy territory.

I understand that you have more information about another strike that happened overnight at the crash site?

STARR: Well, indeed, and this was expected.

They launched another F-15 that dropped a precision bomb on the wreckage to try and fully destroy it overnight when they were fairly certain there would be no civilians in the area. This is standard procedure.

The military, almost always, comes in after the fact if there's a downed helicopter, a downed aircraft, and destroys the wreckage. Some of the most classified U.S. military technology is on board that F-15E that went down, and it's not a perfect solution. But they wanted to do what they could after the fact to destroy it and make sure that some of that classified technology did not fall into Gadhafi's hands.

Of course, the wreckage was on the ground for many hours. And civilians, as the pictures show, combing over the wreckage, still trying to do the best they could to destroy it and make sure Gadhafi's people didn't get their hands on it -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Barbara. Appreciate it.

Barbara Starr and Arwa Damon.

Elizabeth Taylor has died after a battle with congestive heart failure. We're going to look back at the Oscar-winning actress' life and career.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Getting some breaking news, some information out of Libya, a briefing that occurred before. I'm going to read you an e-mail that I have here. Commander of British aircraft operating over Libya has said that Moammar Gadhafi's Air Force -- and I'm quoting here from an official, "No longer exists as a fighting force."

That Air Vice Marshal Greg Bragwell in a briefing with allies said "The allies could now operate with near impunity over the skies of Libya," essentially saying that the Libyan Air Force has been defeated. They say that they were applying unrelenting pressure on Libyan armed forces.

I want to bring in retired general Russel Honore to help us understand the piece of news we're getting out of this briefing.

General, what does that mean?

RET. LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, that's just one more notch in the (INAUDIBLE) of Mr. Gadhafi that he needs to leave, that he has no air forces, navy is fixed at the port. He has forces in contact in Misrata and Benghazi. It's time for him to leave. The longer he stays, his forces will be destroyed and the will of his people in Tripoli, he will lose because they will lose their freedom of maneuver. It's time for him to leave. He needs to start negotiating a way out of Libya.

MALVEAUX: General, is it fair to say that they can actually determine that the Libyan air force has been defeated already? I mean, it really just has been days, not weeks.

How do they measure this? How do they come up with this kind of conclusion already?

HONORE: Well, not to speak method (ph) of sources, but I think it's common knowledge that we've got consistent overhead coverage with satellite. Now that's combined with capabilities from the aircraft to give reconnaissance updates in those airfields. I think you could just about bet money on the general's report, over.

MALVEAUX: What is the next step now that they believe the air forces have been defeated or destroyed? What needs to happen now?

HONORE: I think the hard part now is that we've finished the first quarter of this fight, which is to achieve a superiority and a dominance from the air is the forces in contact in Misrata, and those in Benghazi that's still on the outskirts. That fight is Misrata has been going on for a couple weeks now, as I recall.

And the forces in contact there is to be able to get capability in there that can spot where the armor is, the tanks and the artillery, and begin destroying those with precision fires. But that could take some elements on the ground with precision laser systems to be able to pick those tanks off. I see that as the hardest fight right now, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Does that mean -- we've heard from President Obama who says there will not be any U.S. ground forces, no boots on the ground from the United States in Libya. Does that mean that we are counting on the French, the British, others, perhaps even Arab nations, to put boots on the ground to deal with the fact you still have Gadhafi tanks that are rolling through?

HONORE: Yes, both the French and the British are very capable. They've got very capable special operations forces that has the capability to do that.

It's a function of when and where that capability will be applied based on air dominance and a capability to maneuver at will from air space to be able to prevent him from movement.

Misrata, as I recall, has been without water and electricity for several days now so there's a lot of pain and suffering of the people inside that city, and I would think that would be the next big campaign that the coalition will have to see what they're going to do something about before there's massacre beyond belief in that town.

MALVEAUX: Does it surprise you how quickly the Libyan air force was defeated?

HONORE: Absolutely not. They were a third-string team to start off with. They looked powerful when going up against the freedom fighters, but the capability that that faced, was the most capable military air capability in the world.

MALVEAUX: It may be a little too soon to know this, but General, do we have any idea, now that the air forces have been defeated, what is the power, what is the strength that the leader Gadhafi has now? Is he a weakened man, a weakened leader?

HONORE: Yes. I think the remnants of this force can still do a lot of damage inside the urban area. You know, one or two tanks can kill hundreds of people with the capability inside an urban area.

An artillery battery that's still operational can kill hundreds of people and destroy infrastructure, so that is still a fight that still has to be completed outside of Benghazi and in Masaria (ph), as this fight's been going on a couple weeks now.

So how do you separate those forces and provide close air support inside the urban area? That's a difficult mission. But they got the right people with the right stuff to get it done. And I'm convinced over the next couple days, they will clear that area of enemy forces, too.

MALVEAUX: All right. Generous Russel Honore, thank you for your perspective.

We're going to be following that breaking news story out of Libya, reports now from a briefing that, in fact, that the Libyan air forces have been defeated, that they have very limited, if any, capability at all, and what the next steps will be for the NATO alliance, as well as the United States in Libya.

Also following another breaking news story. This is out of Jerusalem. This is a report about an explosion that occurred, a bombing that occurred at a main Jerusalem bus station. This was near or outside a phone booth.

Earlier we learned that there were 20 to 30 who had been wounded. We are now learning from a hospital spokesperson that one woman now has died from the explosion outside that Jerusalem bus station. We're going to have more information following that breaking news story as it becomes available.

Well, the Arab world is waiting -- well, we're going to go for a quick break and then we'll fill you in on what's happening in the Arab world. A lot of conflict there as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The Arab world is erupting and we're focusing on what these conflicts mean for U.S. interests and safety.

First of all, in Libya. Air strikes have knocked Moammar Gadhafi on his heels. But, it'll take a lot more than that to knock him out. The stakes very high. Libya has the ninth largest oil reserves and it's a lesson how bloody and difficult the battle for change in the Arab world may prove to be.

We're also zeroing in on three other countries, Yemen, Egypt, and Syria. We're going to start with Syria, Iran's main Arab ally. The U.S. calls Syria a state sponsor of terror and financial backer to Hezbollah. Well now despite government crackdowns, hundreds of protesters are marching against the regime of its president Basahr al- Assad. And bigger protests are now expected on Friday.

Mohammad Jamjoon is live in Abu Dhabi with the very latest.

Mohammed, I understand that demonstrators are calling for massive protests on Friday. Do we anticipate that this is going to turn into something that could be violent, a bloody conflict?

MOHAMMAD JAMJOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, today was already a bloody day. According to eyewitnesses there, at least six people killed when security forces opened fire on protestors gathered outside a mosque in the southern city of Daraa.

Now, state television in Syria actually had a different version of events. They said that armed gangs attacked security forces there, killing three people, including a medic and an American ambulance driver. But we're told by witnesses there and organizers that they do intend to have larger protests and they're trying to have them across the country on Friday.

Because there was a crackdown today and because we've seen more in the last few days, and because this protest movement really seems to be gaining momentum in Syria, it does look like those protests are going to be planned and probably will come off. What the reaction will be, we don't know.

I must stress, it's extraordinary to be seeing these kinds of protests in a country with an authority regime like Syria. This is a country that's had a near 50-year law that bans any kind of demonstration of this nature. So the fact that this is happening, really worrying regional neighbors, allies of Syria, that this may continue to happen in Syria.

How is the Syrian government going to react? We just don't know at this stage, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Excellent point. And we know that even what happens with Syria, perhaps even more important to U.S. interests than Libya because we know that it is financially supporting Hezbollah, a state sponsor of terror.

If Assad goes, what is left? Who is left to replace him?

JAMJOOM: This is one of the key questions, not just for Syria, but other questions in the region that are experiencing a similar type of unrest.

Now, when we talk about Syria, we have to stress the fact that for the U.S., Syria is a key player in the Middle East despite Assad being called a state backer of terrorism. The fact is he has links to Lebanon, he has links to Iran. He's somebody that's tried to come out of years of isolation by the west. IN the past few years he's strengthened his ties to Iran, while also trying to get closer ties to the U.S. and other western powers.

So there really's not going to be able to be any kind of comprehensive Mideast peace without Syria. And if Assad is threatened or his regime is threatened, nobody really knows what's going to happen next in that country and how that will affect the bigger picture of peace in the Mideast, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Mohammed Jamjoom giving us the very latest on Syria. We're going to keep a close eye, a close watch on what's taking place in that country.

Also, people in Tokyo now worried about their tap water. Japan's government says that radioactive material in the water is over the limit considered safe for babies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Turning now to the nuclear crisis in Japan, the government has expanded now its list of vegetables that show higher than legal levels of radiation. And now signs of contamination are showing up in Tokyo's water supply. Radioactive iodine levels are double now what is considered to be safe for babies, and people are making a run for bottled water.

Emergency workers at Japan's quaked-damaged, Fukushima plant had to pull back again today. And workers, they have been scrambling to cool down these fuel rods since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

I want to go behind the headlines and take a look at what the workers at this nuclear plant need to do to move forward. Our Michael Friedlander, who joins us from Hong Kong.

Michael, you've spent, what, 25 years in the nuclear industry as a senior plant operator. You know how things are supposed to work here. If you were overseeing this response, walk us through what needs to happen this week. What would you do?

MICHAEL FRIEDLANDER, FORMER SENIOR POWER PLANT OPERATOR: I'm sorry, I didn't catch the question. You faded out.

MALVEAUX: Sure. What would you do if you were the plant operator, if you were in charge there? In this next week, what needs to happen to shut these reactors down to make sure this radioactivity doesn't continue to spread?

FRIEDLANDER: Well, again, you know, as I've said on this and other programs, until we get power restored to the power plant, continuing doing what they have been doing for the last 12 days is, quite honestly, the only game in town.

It's absolutely essential that they keep the reactor vessel, the reactor core itself covered with water as well as continuing to refill it the spent-fuel pool, but getting the power restored, getting the main control room restored and energizing the plant equipment so that they can get on the normal plant systems is absolutely essential. At that point, then we can determine the emergency is in the final stages.

MALVEAUX: What do we think the timetable is?

FRIEDLANDER: Well, you know what? It's a good question, and quite honestly, you're asking me to forecast the future.

But my best guess as to how this is going to play out is about over the next three, maybe four days or so, basically they're going to be restoring energy little bit by little bit to each of the individual power plants.

Of course, the priority is going to the main control room because that is the main nerve center of the entire plant. Once they get that restored, now we have some instrumentation and we can figure out what's going on in the power plant that up to this point has been almost impossible to figure out.

Then we'll start sending power in the individual pieces of equipment, important valves, important pumps and things like that.

And then we'll have to actually make the transition from the situation that the power plant is in today, which is basically in the fail-safe mode, and getting the plant up and running to get to what we call cold shutdown.

All in all, I suspect that this is really going to take about another two to two and a half weeks. And probably by around the first week of April or so, then we'll be looking at actually having the plant in a stable, cold shutdown configuration.

MALVEAUX: OK, we're going to be following that timetable very closely with you in the weeks to come.

Very quickly here, there are new reports now about the danger to the food and tap water in Tokyo. How serious is this?

FRIEDLANDER: Well, you know, as the government in Japan reported today, you know, clearly we are over the recommended limits for children. It's not a matter for adults, not a matter for adults to be worried about.

But the reality of the situation here is, Dr. Sanjay Gupta said it earlier today, there is a very clearly there's a gap between anxiety and the science of what's behind long-term, low-level exposure to the levels of radiation.

MALVEAUX: All right.

FRIEDLANDER: And so --

MALVEAUX: Michael, Mike Friedlander, we appreciate your time. We're obviously going to be following your timetable to see if those reactors or shutdown, if the radiation stops, and of course, concerns to the water and food.

Thank you, Michael.

It is the one-year anniversary of the passage of health care reform, and you're weighing in on our "Talk Back" question. Your responses are straight ahead.

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MALVEAUX: Legendary movie star Elizabeth Taylor died today at a Los Angeles hospital. She suffered from congestive heart failure. Taylor was famous for her striking beauty on screen, and off screen her eight marriages earned her endless notoriety.

Taylor won two Academy Awards and became an international star just at the age of 12. A biographer called her, "the last movie star."

We want to hear from you. What do you think Elizabeth Taylor's legacy will be? Send us a message to Facebook.com/SuzanneCNN. We're going to read your responses this hour.

In the next hour, we'll hear from James Earl Jones, who worked with her.

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MALVEAUX: Here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. President Obama signed the health care bill one year ago today, and that is the topic of today's "Talk Back" question.

Our Carol Costello has more on that.

Hey, Carol.

COSTELLO: Seems like a million years ago he signed that bill into law.

The "Talk Back" question today: Was the health care battle worth it, a year later?

This from Darrell, "As a person living with HIV who has seen their health insurance canceled and rejected by every insurance carrier since, I can say with absolute certainty...YES."

This from Jesse, "No, the health care battle was not worth one iota of President Obama's political capital that he earned following his sweeping win. The way in which the matter was dealt with and forced through the Congress made me a former supporter of his, ashamed of the politicians in Washington that were supposed to bring in change. I liken this administration to that of George W. Bush in certain ways."

This from Ricardo, "It is just a law for all. What happened is that big health insurance providers, big political campaign donors wanted a piece of the pie, a big piece, leaving out many needy people to feed their own greed."

And this is from Tom, "Mitt Romney blasted the law? What about Romney care in Massachusetts?"

Please, continue the conversation -- Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN -- and I'll see you again in about 10 minutes.

MALVEAUX: OK, 10 minutes. We're going to take a quick break. See you in 10.

All right, thanks.

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