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'Continual Physical Repression of Journalists' in Libya; Protesters Against British Government Austerity Measures Clash With Police In London; Rebel Forces Take Back a Major City From Pro-Gadhafi Forces; Woman Claims She Was Beat and Raped By Libyan Army Members; Witnesses in Syria Say Anti-Government Protestors Shot By Snipers; Japanese Workers Continue Attempts to Contain Nuclear Disaster; Some NBA Players Donating to Effort In Japan

Aired March 26, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Rebel forces are making critical gains in Libya today. And they're giving credit to American and coalition war planes. Meanwhile, President Obama is preparing his own take on the U.S. role in the war.

Also this morning, new fears in Japan as radiation levels reach stunning new heights, and the air around the damaged nuclear plant is no longer the worry. Rather, it's the water.

Also something we're keeping an eye on right now in Great Britain. Budget cuts are coming at a high cost for British leaders. Protesters on the streets this morning clashing with police officers over proposed austerity measures. We'll have the latest from there. Again, this is happening right now.

From the CNN Center, this is your CNN start morning for this march the 26th. I'm T.J. Holmes.

We do want to start with a new and disturbing incident in Tripoli. This happened today. It's a story that maybe highlights the brutality of a regime that so many people are now fighting against.

We want to bring in our CNN international correspondent Nic Robertson with the latest.

Tell us what happened.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., it all began this morning over breakfast time when a lady came into the hotel, a middle aged appeared to be very respectable lady came into the hotel. She was shouting and telling journalists that she had been picked up by government officials at a checkpoint a couple of days earlier in the east of the city. She said that she had been abused by them, that she had been held by them, 15 men, she said, had raped her.

She showed how she'd been tied at the wrists and at the ankles. She had rope burns on her wrists and ankles. She'd been badly beaten about her face. She showed heavy bruising on her legs, blood on her inner thigh. The story appeared consistent with her injuries.

But she began telling journalists this story, government officials here in the hotel closed in to try and shut her up. Hotel staff, one of them pulled a knife on her, called her a traitor. One government official pulled out a pistol. The government officials tried to take cameras away from journalists. CNN's camera was taken away and smashed and destroyed.

Journalists continue to try to follow the plight of this woman, as government officials put a bag over her head, bundled her out of the way and then tried to bundle her and did indeed bundle her physically and violently against her will, she was kicking and screaming, bundled her into a car outside the hotel.

The government said -- government officials said that she had a mental health problem and they were taking her to, quote-unquote, "a hospital." The woman herself shouted out in English that she thought she was being taken to a prison.

It was an absolutely brutal handling of a situation where one woman dared to come into the hotel and tell journalists and speak out to journalists, international journalists that are gathered in this hotel, dared to speak out against the regime here and she was brutally overwhelmed and the journalists were beaten in the process, T.J.

HOLMES: You say journalists were beaten in the process as well. That was going to be my next question. Besides the smashing of the cameras, any other actions directed towards the journalists?

ROBERTSON: As government officials tried to wrestle cameras away from journalists, journalists were kicked or at least one of them kicked when he was on the floor. They were beaten about the head, a punch thrown at one of the journalists who was interviewing the lady herself. And a continual physical repression of journalists just trying to film what happened.

And beyond that then the officials trying to get the camera equipment and in our case smashed it. One of them literally pulled a pistol from his belt and brandishing a nine-millimeter pistol. This is a government official who the journalists had understood here was employed to facilitate our access to stories around the city. It was a very ugly situation, T.J.

HOLMES: Nic Robertson there covering the latest for us. We appreciate you, as always. We'll check in with you again.

We do want to turn to other news we're getting out of Libya this morning and also about the role the U.S. is playing. Critics have called on President Obama to spell out exactly what the U.S. involvement in Libya is. He's expected to do just that. Monday night you can see the president's address live from the National Defense University from Washington, that comes your way at 7:30 eastern time. That's on Monday night. Meanwhile, the rebel forces in Libya are moving west now that they've captured a key see in the east. Ajdabiya is the city. A short time ago, Libya's deputy foreign minister talked about the coalition role saying that the heavy involvement by the coalition warplanes led to the Libyan government's decision to leave the city.

Our Arwa Damon saw that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These air strikes pounding Gadhafi's positions, we saw the aftermath of that pounding, 13, 14 damaged tanks. Some appeared to have been abandoned. Others clearly hit by an air strike. The force of the blast has turned them on their turrets. They've been blown to pieces.

Opposition fighters telling us that after these air strikes took place, they were able to push their front line forward acquiring whatever weapons they have and driving Gadhafi's forces out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We are also now hearing about new shelling in the city of Misrata. Government tank lobbed shells into that city. Witnesses telling the opposition casualties are mounting.

So the United States has been taking, as you know, a lead role in the action since those air strikes started last Saturday. But now it's time for someone else to take over. NATO said to take command of the no-fly zone enforcement. But what does that mean for the U.S. role? Will we still see American planes flying over Libya?

Our CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joins me again this morning. Chris, what will it look like when it's official, if you will, that NATO has taken over the lead from the United States?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: T.J., it will look a lot like it has in the last 24 to 48 hours where the U.S. is no longer flying these patrol missions to make sure that no one is flying in the area or there are no surface-to-air missiles being fired.

But instead you are going to see a continued U.S. presence. That's because there are some unique capabilities that really only the U.S. can really provide to this effort. Take a look. We can kind of run down a few of them. The first is the global hawk. It's an unmanned plane that can stay in the air at high altitude for long periods of time. It gives surveillance over the area.

Also there's something called "J-stars" which allow the allies to get an idea of what armor is on the ground, tanks, things like that. Finally there are these planes called growlers. Those also will be used to sort of jam signals and jam some of the electronic communication that's out there as well.

In addition, we're hearing that the U.S. is open to bringing drones and bringing some certain kinds of planes that can fly at low altitude at night. And those would be used for targeting a lot of Moammar Gadhafi's troops on the ground.

HOLMES: Chris, some call it a political distinction to say that the U.S. is not in the lead, but given the superior capabilities in a lot of ways, is it really possible for the U.S. militarily take a backseat to anyone in this effort?

LAWRENCE: Well, in some ways, yes, but if you look at it, the simple no-fly mission, you know, U.S. officials have come out and said that pretty much is air force is grounded, his air defenses have been destroyed. So while it's not risk-free, the idea of just patrolling to make sure no one is flying is the simpler mission.

The tougher mission is to discern exactly where and how they're going to go after Gadhafi's forces. And although U.S. officials have been up front in saying, look, we're not supporting the rebels, we're not providing close air support for the rebels, the fact remains they are targeting tanks, armor, and troops on the ground in coordinated air strikes. They say they'll continue to do so.

HOLMES: Our Chris Lawrence, Pentagon correspondent. Chris, we appreciate you, as always.

And we'll be hearing from the president on Monday. He'll address the nation in the situation in Libya and the U.S. role. But we also want to hear from you this morning. We've been asking you this question. Should the United States step back from any involvement in the current unrest in the Middle East? You can send us your comments. My Facebook page, also on twitter @TJHolmes. We've been sharing your comments on the air.

Also, in London, thousands of people are rallying against proposed austerity measured called for by Britain's conservative movement. Take a look at some of these images. These are the demonstrations, the pictures just coming in to us here at CNN. Organizers are calling this the "march for an alternative." Protesters are protesting against deep cuts in for social programs, public spending, and government workers.

We have live pictures. Some of the protesters and the unions organizing these were estimating they could get possibly a couple hundred of thousand in the streets to protest. This has been a budget battle going on in this country for some time.

This might look familiar because at the end of the year we saw similar protests that got violent when students were actually out in the streets protesting because of the proposed tuition hikes there. But back to video here. Some outbreaks of clashes between the protesters and police, but not out and out violence. But we'll bring you the updates as we get them from London.

We turn to Japan where we have new concerns this morning about radiation in the seawater surrounding the crippled nuclear power plant. Tests show the level of radioactive iodine in the water near that Fukushima nuclear power plant is 1,200 times higher than normal. Officials say this will suggest that the leak is in one of the six reactor cores. The radiation levels in the air and drinking water supply, however, are decreasing.

If you want to be president, as we turn to politics in this country, you better spend a lot of time in Iowa. Today five men who are at least considering the idea of running for president, they will be in Des Moines, Iowa. Our political editor Mark Preston is there as well. He'll join us to tell us who is there and also why it's significant about who is not there. It's 11 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: At about a quarter past the hour on this CNN Saturday morning. Let's take a look at politics. An important gathering for Republicans takes place today in Iowa. In fact, it's getting under way as we speak. Some possible Republican presidential contenders are on hand for a conservative conference there.

Our senior political editor Mark Preston is there.

I see people are starting to fill the room now. Tell us who is on hand.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, T.J. speaking right behind me, just took the stage is Haley Barbour. He's the Mississippi governor. He's making waves about running for president as are four other potential presidential candidates, Republicans who will be speaking here today. We expect Haley Barbour to make it official within the next month or so.

But right now what Haley Barbour is trying to do as these other candidates, Herman Kaine, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann. They are the once who will come out on the snowy cold days and vote on caucus night.

HOLMES: How big of a deal -- is everything a big deal, it seems in Iowa, any conference. We've seen some of these conferences take place before. It looks like a smaller room. I'm not sure I have a good handle on how many people will be attending. But why is this gathering a big deal?

PRESTON: Well, it's a big deal for the fact that it's a Saturday morning. It is a cold day here in Des Moines. Snow showers outside, and people are giving up their weekend to come out and hear from these presidential candidates.

Iowa was the first in the nation caucus state. They are the ones who vote first. They can propel a candidate and help them win a Republican nomination.

Behind me we're looking at about 300, 400 potential voters in January. They think between 500 and 600 throughout the day will be here to listen. These are the folks that these candidates behind me have to appeal to, T.J., if they want to win. These are the folks who will knock on doors and make telephone call. These are the folks that will come out in January or in February when the caucus is in 2012 and cast their vote.

HOLMES: Real quick, tell me who is not there.

PRESTON: Yes, four former governors won't be here, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, four candidates who will be absent today. Their absence certainly will be missed, but it leaves an opening for the other five candidates behind me to try to make an appeal to these conservatives.

HOLMES: Looks like a small room. It looked like some people noticed that you were reporting there. Sorry for the disturbance folks. People turning around looking at you, Mark. We appreciate the report. We'll check in with you again.

Coming up as well. We'll be talking about that damaged nuclear reactor in Japan. It is more than 5,000 miles away from the United States. But there's still fear here in the U.S. of radiation contamination. It could possibly get here to this country. Are those worries really justified, though?

It's 17 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 18 minutes past the hour now.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned the import of milk products, fruit and vegetables from four areas near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Other than that, experts say food imported from Japan is perfectly safe to eat.

But as we hear from CNN's Ted Rowlands in Los Angeles, that's a hard sell for a lot of folks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mei Lee says she's concerned about the possibility that radiation could get into the food she buys from this Japanese grocery store in Los Angeles.

MEI LEE, GROCERY SHOPPER: I really care about the food, actually, if from Japan. I want to make sure. For example, the fish, I'm not going to buy anything. Probably now it's OK. But probably two or three months later, I'm not going to buy any fish from Japan.

ROWLANDS: These noodles are made in Tokyo and there are two concerns going on in this Japanese market in Los Angeles. One is that customers are worried they won't be able to get their hands on products like that made in Japan, so they're buying a lot of them. The other revolves around radiation fears, obviously. About 30 percent of the fish at this market comes from Japan. And folks here at the store say a lot of customers are concerned about radiation.

GENE IKEDA, NIJIYA MARKET: A good amount of people come in and ask questions about regarding, you know, if products are -- you know, have radiation and that. But all of our products do come through the FDA. They're inspected very tightly. Anything that we get, it's safe. ROWLANDS: Despite official reassurances that Japan's nuclear plant problems don't affect the west coast, people, especially on the west coast, don't necessary believe they're safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the experts aren't telling us everything.

ROWLANDS: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't want to cause panic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The government has an invested interest in saying no. They're finding it in the food, in the water, in some people. Obviously there's some problem with it. But whether it's going to come here or not, who knows?

ROBERT DEMAYO, PSYCHOLOGIST, PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: The fear touches a very basic part of our brain that fears the unseen danger. The advisories touch that part of our brain which is intellectual. The fear trumps that part of our brain that can intellectually process what the doctors are telling us.

ROWLANDS: Experts say that Mei Lee and other who buy products in the U.S. don't need to worry right now, but that doesn't mean they won't. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: I spoke to a radiation expert last hour, University of Texas radiation oncology professor Dr. James Cox, and he agrees with the nuclear scientists when they say there is nothing to worry about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JAMES COX, PROFESSOR, RADIATION ONCOLOGY: We knew trace amounts were going to show up all over the world. We have had experience with this from Chernobyl, but more recently we've had experience with the particles coming from the volcano in Iceland. So we know that it goes all over the world. But the amounts that reach the United States all, while measurable, are of no consequence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Cox says there's more danger in actually laying out in the sun too long than there is from doing radiation contamination from the Japanese nuclear reactor. We'll have more of his interview next hour.

Also coming up, a chef who is used to preparing fancy meals and fancy restaurants, but he decides now to start giving his food away. That makes him a CNN hero.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 23 minutes past the hour now. Cheap motels, no place for kids, but all too often that's where we're seeing them, their families struggling with the bad economy, just trying to keep a roof over their heads. Well, now one chef is offering to help out, serving up his solutions a plate at a time. We want to introduce you now to this week's CNN hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNO SERATO, CNN HERO: I came to this country 30 years ago. I love to cook. To be in the restaurant business, you must love people. How is your lunch, ladies?

In 2005, my mom was here on vacation from Italy. I said, mom, let's go to the boys and girls club. This little boy five years old eating potato chips for his dinner. He was a motel kid. I find out a poor family who has nothing else, you live in a motel. The motel environment is extremely bad. Drugs, prostitution, alcoholics, it's horrible.

When they go back after school, there's no dinner, there's no money. Mom said, Bruno, you must feed them the pasta. I'm Bruno Serato. I listen to my momma. Now my mission is feeding hungry children. Six years ago we started feeding the kids. When the recession came, customers dropped and the children doubled. I don't give the kids leftovers. I cook them fresh pasta.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bruno brings a tray in and all the kids, they start getting excited.

SERATO: Are you hungry? Are you hungry? Right now we have between 150 to 200 kids seven days a week. Who likes the pasta? My mom, she made me start. Now I could never stop. They're customers, my favorite customers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Bruno, he has served up more than 270,000 dinners to date. Remember folks every one of this year's CNN heroes chosen from people you tell us about. To nominate someone that you know who is making a big difference in your community go to CNNheroes.com.

President Obama, he's taking a lot of heat for the way he is handling Libya, but what are the political implications of taking the fight to Moammar Gadhafi? We'll take a look at that in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to CNN Saturday morning.

You're looking at a live picture of what we have been keeping an eye on in London. Protests, an estimated tens of thousands in the streets protesting austerity measures being put in place by the government -- at least being imposed by the government there.

But the protests in the streets, people not happy with it. You're seeing tear gas at some points thrown. Some of these clashes have turned violent. Some of the unions there in London were predicting that they could get hundreds of thousands in the streets. No way to convey how many are out there, but to give you an idea of how much and what they were expecting.

This will remind you what we saw on the streets of London just a few months ago when students took to the streets protesting the increased tuition and fees for universities. You see one person in the middle of the screen there, some people -- someone tossing something in the direction of police. But police trying to get this under control for the most part. I'm not saying that most of what we're seeing or all of it has been violent, but any time we see large protests like this, oftentimes you see pockets of people that will turn violent.

You see police there forming that line. Not sure what they're trying to protect or keep these protesters getting to, but certainly a line and push them back. This was supposed to be called a march for alternative, but this is a live picture of what's happening right now on the streets of London. We'll keep a close look there.

Other stories that we're keeping a close eye on today, an apology from the Tokyo electric company, an apology for the three Fukushima power plant workers who were exposed to the high levels of radiation. This happened Thursday when they stepped into a pool of contaminated water in that plant. Two of them suffered direct skin exposure. Officials say it could have been prevented with better communication.

Let's turn to North Africa now where Libyan foreign minister is confirming that the opposition has retaken control of Ajdabiya. These are the new image that we've seen taken today. Rebels say allied bombardments helped them drive pro-Gadhafi troops out.

President Obama will lay out his Libya strategy in a speech to the nation on Monday night. He's been hammered by lawmakers from both parties really. They say the president has failed to clearly explain U.S. goals and strategy in Libya or to adequately consult with members of Congress. But President Obama strongly defended his handling of the crisis in his address to congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When someone like Gadhafi threatens a bloodbath that can destabilize an entire region, and when the international community is prepared to come together to save many thousands of lives, and it's in our national interests to act and it's our responsibility. This is one of those times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLLING: John Avlon is a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for thedailybeast.com. Good morning to you. Good to see you here, buddy.

JOHN AVLON, SENIOR POLITICAL COLUMNIST, THEDAILYBEAST.COM: T.J., good morning. HOLMES: The president is speaking on Monday. Will some see this as better late than never or will some just see it as plain old late?

AVLON: Well, it is better late than never. The president is going to make his case to the nation for why we've been engaged in military action in Libya for over a week now. Secretary Gates and Secretary Clinton will be hitting the talk circuit tomorrow to help make that case as well.

But there has been criticism there's been a communication breakdown. They've not made the case for why we're militarily engaged. That's prompted a lot of criticism from both the left and the right. So the administration trying to regain control, make a case that this is consistent philosophically for the president and in the national interests.

HOLMES: In the national interest, he'll be talking directly to the American people. We'll get to the support he'll need of the American people in a second, but doesn't he need the support of both parties. You expect criticism from the right maybe, for this president, but from the left, what is that criticism he's getting and how much trouble could that mean?

AVLON: Well, you know, there is old wisdom in the mid-20th century that partisan politics ought to end at the water's edge, especially during wartime. That no longer really implies. Some folks on the far right have been twisting themselves in knots, initially criticizing the president for not taking action, now criticizing him for moving too quickly, Newt Gingrich, in particular.

On the left, the criticism seems to be reflexive. A lot of the anti-Bush critics saying that they just oppose military action, questioning the constitutionality of this action and questioning why the president didn't brief Congress in particular. There are always some folks on the far left that reflexively philosophically are against war.

The president is trying to make the case this is a multi-lateral action, a humanitarian intervention and those are some of the themes he'll be hitting, some of the themes he hit in his Nobel Peace prize address when he did say that military action can be justified on military grounds.

HOLMES: OK, but you talk about the back and forth in Washington, D.C., and a lot of us are just used to that. But frankly, what are people out there saying? And do Americans come to expect their president to get in front of that camera and make a national address to explain why American lives have been put in danger?

AVLON: They do expect it. They have a reason to expect it. That's been the precedent from American presidents. When military action takes place, there is usually an Oval Office address, but this time the action came while the president was on a tour of south America.

And there has been also an administration sense of trying to underplay this, saying that we're not at war. This is kinetic military action and trying to, I think, wrestle with whether or not this is regime change, some sensitivity that they might be compared to the Bush administration, maybe oversensitivity in that regard.

But the president will get out and explain why we're militarily engaged and the administration is catching up to that. It's overdue but better late than never.

HOLMES: And on Monday night. We're getting all indications that at some point this weekend officially NATO will take over the lead in this effort from the Americans. This last thing here, what's the timing? Why Monday? Would that have anything to do with it?

AVLON: Well, it may. That is a clear break of the U.S. leading the military push to a shift towards general multilateral action. It should be said that CNN polls show that over 70 percent of Americans support the imposition of the no-fly zone but not ground troops. This is a line that the administration is walking that seems to have the goodwill of the American people behind it, a rally around the flag maneuver.

HOLMES: All right, the presidential address, you can see it right here. John Avlon, good to see you, as always. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

AVLON: Take care, T.J.

HOLMES: We ask you what you thought about American involvement in the Middle East. Should the U.S. be stepping back? Here's what you told us on our blog. Latifah said "We cannot back out now. The U.S. took a historical stand when they went into Libya and saved, literally, thousands of lives." Sara tells us "I'm tired of our military being forced into the role of the world's police force. I think we need to get out of the Middle East entirely. Let these war- torn countries deal with it themselves."

Shawn says, "Yes, pull back. Let the Middle Eastern nations take care of it unless the U.S. is in danger." Thank you for chiming in.

It's 36 minutes past the hour. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 39 minutes past the hour.

We have been keeping you updated about breaking developments happening in North Africa and the Middle East. Certainly the region has seen a number of uprisings, if you will, democratic uprisings some several places. Syria is one place we've seen protesters take to the streets out there calling for reforms as well. The president there of Syria has made some concessions, but in some cases it doesn't seem to be enough. Many protesters want more.

That is one place that has been the center point of a lot of these protests. On the line with me right now is a doctor in Syria. We're going to talk to him about what he has been seeing. We're not going to reveal this doctor's name because we just want to protect him at the time of this unrest there.

Sir, I appreciate you being on the line with us willing to talk to us. Tell me what you are seeing in that city which is seeing a lot of protests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, WITNESS IN SYRIA (via telephone): Yes. What happened yesterday, we had the people from the towns around Daraa city. They gathered and they want to support their families and friends in Daraa for what happened Wednesday night and afternoon.

Yesterday they went to a house and suddenly we have the snipers start shooting at people from the roof of the buildings, the government buildings. We had seen people get shot in the head and the neck. And we had hundreds of people get wounded. This is in Daraa city.

And we have people that went to protest. And we have the security forces, they opened their doors and they start shooting at people. We had 20 people killed at that spot right away. And we had over 60 people just wounded. This is the situation right now in Daraa. And everybody is upset with what's happening. Some families they can't get the dead bodies because the government is taking them to hide them there.

HOLMES: And sir, you're describing -- our viewers are seeing some of the protests on the streets there, but what you're describing there and there have been significant protests in Daraa that you're describing, but it is seen that whatever violence or whatever some of the government forces, which I assume -- you would assume those are who have been attacking these protesters. But does that seem to be stopping the protesters at all? Are the numbers getting smaller? Are these tactics working to get people off the streets?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The protesters, they had no weapons whatsoever. They are just screaming "We need our freedom! We need democracy!" And the people attacking them, it's the security forces definitely, the snipers, they brought from Damascus and the official forces to protect the president and his family.

We are 100 percent certain that the government is doing that. Without any warning or let them go back to their homes. They're shooting the people. Like most of them, they're now getting shot in the head and the neck, killing them. I did see one incident -- it is just disgusting. We saw two wounded in the ambulance sending them to the hospital. We had security forces come out and get the wounded out and shot them. And they said now you can take them to the hospital. They acted like animal. Even animals won't do this.

HOLMES: Sir, you are describing seeing snipers firing on protesters. What else have you seen in terms of possible government forces and their presence on the streets?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do have the army. They brought the army to every single street and corner. So far the army, they didn't attack. They tried to avoid the people. The most dangerous people who are shooting the people the security forces, you know, army security forces, you know, air force and the snipers. They are all divisions from the Republican Guard which is here who are shooting the people.

HOLMES: Sir, what is the plan or what have you heard from the people who have been in the streets, the protesters moving forward? You said many have to run back home after some of these shots ring out. But are there plans for more protests moving forward? Do you see any sign that the people are breaking down?

HOLMES: The people want their freedom. They will not stop even if they are going to destroy everybody. Once you lose your family, there's no way you will back off. People spill their blood for freedom and democracy, which we have for 40 years. Now people will never ever start to back up. Tomorrow we'll have the 50 people just killed and you will hear, the reporters are somebody giving you the news, you'll hear about the people, how many is going to get killed or wounded. People, they don't scare any more. They want to live like a human being. You don't need this kind of life.

HOLMES: Sir, we appreciate you taking the time out and letting our viewer hear about what is happening there. But again, to our viewers, you're hearing the voice of a doctor. We do not want to identify him for security reasons for his safety there, but describing in the southern city of Daraa in Syria, but describing a scene in which snipers essentially taking out protesters, which the doctors there claim had no weapons of any kind.

You saw the video of people marching in protest, again, like he said, wanting democracy, wanting more for their lives. And some losing their lives in that process. We do appreciate the doctor for taking the time out. We won't go too far away from that story.

Also, we were showing you these pictures earlier. This is happening on the streets of London right now. This is a live picture, I can tell you now. What we're seeing, unions have put together protests in the streets today. In some cases they have turned into clashes of some kind. We're not getting report of injuries, but police clearly trying to deal with protesters. And there have been some clashes that have broken out.

You can see some of it happening on this screen in a live picture in front of you from London. What are they doing there? The protesters are getting together because they're against some of the austerity measures proposed by the conservative government there in Britain, some of the conservative party, I should say, there in Great Britain trying to get it under control. Protesters are upset about that.

Budget cutting measures, mention reform measures that many of these workers are just against. The union saying they are trying to organize. And they estimated they could get a few hundred thousand in the streets. No way to confirm that at all. But to give you an idea of the scope and just how large they were trying to make this.

But in London, you're seeing police forces certainly outnumbered by a lot of the protesters there. But we're seeing clashes here and there in pockets as we watch the streets of London. We're seeing scenes like this play out in several places, trying to put in austerity measures, including there in London when students were protesting. It got violent then when they were trying to protest hikes in tuition.

We're keeping a close eye on what's happening in London, a close eye on what's happening today in Libya, a close eye on what's in Syria today, a close eye on what's happening in Japan today as well, flash points all around the world. We have it covered for you right here on CNN.

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HOLMES: All right, ten minutes at the top of the hour. Ray D'Alessio from HLN sports is here with me. If you had all of the four number within one seeds, your bracket is jacked, because we now have three number one seeds out of there after a thriller last night. The overall number one, bye-bye.

RAY D'ALESSIO, HLN SPORTS: Ohio State gone. I still have Kentucky going to the national championship but I had Louisville beating them.

HOLMES: I forgot they were even in the tournament.

D'ALESSIO: My bracket is pretty much done. The tournament is where stars are born. Definitely we're seeing a star born in Kentucky's Brandon Knight. In three games hit two game winners, 30 points. Last night against Ohio State, under five seconds to go pushed the Cats up. Ohio State has once last chance to win it. But no, denied. Ball tipped away. Kentucky goes on to win it.

The store with Brandon Knight before that shot he was zero for 12. Head coach John Calipari calls him over and says, you're zero for 12, pass the ball. What's he do? He goes out and hits the game- winning shot.

HOLMES: He said he would put it in his hands again.

D'ALESSIO: And that's what determines a true champion. If you can go zero for 12 but you still feel confident to take that game winning shot.

HOLMES: The other cool story, BCU, every analyst out there that said didn't deserve to be in the tournament. That was the controversy on selection Sunday.

D'ALESSIO: On paper they didn't. They lost five of their last eight regular games. They had to play the play-in game to get to the tournament. They beat Southern Cal. Then they beat Georgetown and they beat Purdue. How about this one continuing their Cinderella run against Florida State winning this one by a final of 72-71 in overtime. Now the question is we'll see how good they really are because they go up against the lone number one seed remaining in Kansas. HOLMES: One thing I want to get to. He looks smart right now. Something happening in the NBA, happening tonight as well. Players donating money to the cause.

D'ALESSIO: Pau Gasol from the Lakers, Derek Rose of the Chicago Bulls say they'll donate $1,000 for every point they score. In last night's game, for the relief effort in Japan, Pau Gasol had 26 points. That's $26,000 right there

HOLMES: And Al Horford is a part of this as well, he'll be in studio with me in the next hour talking about that particular effort. Ray, good to see you.

D'ALESSIO: See you.

HOLMES: Thank you so much. Folks out there, you don't need an invitation to the royal wedding. All you have to do is join the crowds in the pubs and on the streets of London. Guess what? There are still good deals on airfare if you still want to make it. Ray, let's get on, get us some tickets.

D'ALESSIO: I'm there.

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HOLMES: As you know, people around the world have been donating money to the cause in Japan trying to help that country recover from that devastating earthquake, tsunami, and now possible nuclear disaster. And you are going to meet one of the people who's trying to help.

NBA all-star Al Horford is joining me live here in studio to talk about how the league is raising money. It will depend on how good of a game he has. We'll explain that live next hour.

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