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Smoke Rises at Second Nuke Plant; Libyan Rebels Lose Ground; Bad IV Bags Tied To Nine Deaths; Breaking Down Radiation Levels; President Obama Speaks at Georgetown University
Aired March 30, 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. I want to get you up to speed for Wednesday, March 30th.
There is trouble at a second Japanese nuclear plant. Smoke rose from a reactor at the Fukushima Daini Complex just two hours today, for two hours. Officials now saying the smoke came from a turbine building but did not offer any further explanation.
Fukushima Daini is six miles from the nuclear power plant that has been in the news since the earthquake and tsunami.
America's top nuclear regulator is just back from Japan answering questions on Capitol Hill right now. Gregory Jaczko promised to take action if developments in Japan pointed to shortcomings at U.S. plants. Some senators are questioning whether United States needs a national storage site for spent nuclear fuel rods to get them away from reactors.
Syria president, Bashar al-Assad did not deliver on government reforms in a speech to parliament today. There was wide speculation that he would roll back the 1963 emergency law which gave police broad arrest powers. Protesters have demanded reforms, but Mr. Assad blames Syria's unrest on meddlers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASHAR AL-ASSAD, PRESIDENT OF SYRIA (through translator): We are now with our conspiracy, a worldwide conspiracy. And this depends on what is happening in the Arab world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, take a look at this video here. It really illustrates the frustration that many are feeling, the Syrians on both sides. You see security officers swarming around a woman after she lunges at President Assad's car.
The president had just finished delivering a speech and was leaving parliament, and demonstrators outside parliament were identified as pro-government. So, it really is unclear what the motivation was for all of this.
Libyan rebels are pulling back today giving ground now to Moammar Gadhafi's forces. Opposition fighters had advanced to the outskirt of Sirte, that's Gadhafi's hometown. Well, Libyan troops pushed them back to Ben Jawad, and then later, the oil port of Ras Lanuf. Today, the rebels appear to have lost Ras Lanuf, although, they call the situation there fluid.
With Libyan rebels now in retreat, President Obama is signaling that United States might arm the opposition fighters to boost their chances against Gadhafi, but he told NBC he's not made up his mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not ruling it out, but I'm also not ruling it in. We're still making an assessment partly about what Gadhafi's forces are going to be doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Gadhafi's men are still pounding Misrata today. One resident says Libyan forces have lobbed heavy artillery at neighborhoods. He says people don't understand why coalition claims have not bombed Gadhafi's fighters to protect Misrata's civilians. While (ph) a report say that Libyan troops killed 18 people in Misrata on Tuesday.
NATO is supposed to take full command of the Libyan operation today and that includes patrolling the no-fly zone and targeting Libyan troops that threaten civilians, but, there are reports the transfer may be pushed back a day or two because of the operation's complex logistics.
Investigators in Alabama are looking into the death of nine hospital patients. All received IVs contaminated by bacteria. Ten other patients got the IVs and reportedly are not doing well. A Birmingham company sold the bad IV bags, and six hospital and officials say the bags have been recalled.
MALVEAUX (on-camera): Now, the latest on serious new concern in Japan's nuclear crisis. Now, smoke detected today in a second nuclear plant. It is near the crippled plant that is in Fukushima.
Our CNN's Martin Savidge, he is with us live from Tokyo.
Martin, tell us about what we understand. Smoke at the second plant. What does that mean?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a good question. Fukushima Daini is the name of that and actually means Fukushima number two. Fukushima Daiichi is Fukushima number one, and that's the one that all the focus has been on, but Daini has, for the most part, been, well, pretty quiet, until this evening, Tokyo time, when smoke was seen rising from the reactor building of -- or actually not the reactor building -- from the turbine building of reactor number one.
The fire department was called. They investigated. Smoke was seen rising apparently from an electrical panel. We don't exactly why the fire started. We do know that once the electricity was turned off, the smoke went away. Fire department is still investigating. So, it does not appear to be anything really serious. That is a whole another series of nuclear reactors there, but they have not had problems, however, any smoke from any nuclear facility these days gets a lot of attention. But, as we say, it doesn't appear to be serious.
MALVEAUX: Sure, Marty. And the Japan's government has ordered now immediate safety upgrades at all of the country's nuclear plants. A lot of people are saying, well, you know, it's about time here. Why is the government deciding it's going to do it now?
SAVIDGE: Well, yes, it's a little bit like the, you know, close the gate after the horse is out of the barn. This is something that, clearly, the public has grown very, very anxious about, the nuclear power system within the country of Japan. And Japan relies heavily on nuclear power. So, of course, the concern is having seen what is happening in Fukushima that, perhaps, these other power plants are not ready for any potential disaster they could strike there.
So, that's why these orders have gone out, and they're expecting to be implemented immediately. It really depends on how significant a change we're talking, and we really don't know just yet.
MALVEAUX: OK. Marty Savidge in Tokyo. Thank you, Marty.
President Obama talks about the future of America's energy security. That's going to happen this hour. He's going to outline plans to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It's a speech that he's giving at Georgetown is set for 11:20 eastern. We're going to bring that to you as soon as it happens live.
Donald Trump. He is in the news again. The quote here, "He is really concerned about where President Obama was born." Well, now, there seems to be some controversy about his own birth certificate, which brings us to our talkback and to Carol. You know, we've heard him criticize and question about the president not producing a birth certificate.
COSTELLO: Yes, we have at (INAUDIBLE). In the 2012 presidential election, at least, one potential candidate is shaping up to be a joke. It's likely the economy will still be struggling and will still be at war at, at least, two countries. That's serious stuff, but what do we get? Donald Trump. Bear with me here. So, Mr. Trump, presidential wannabe is, apparently, a birther. You've heard him on "The View."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Why doesn't he show his birth certificate? And you know what? I wish he would, because I think it's a terrible pal (ph) that's hanging over him. He should show his birth certificate. The other thing, if you go back to my first grade, my kindergarten, people remember me. Nobody from those early years remembers him.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Well, in a masterful attempt to prove, it is easy to produce your birth certificate. Mr. Trump proudly presented what he thought was his birth certificate. It wasn't. It was a hospital birthing record. Oops. Mr. Trump even accused Hawaii's governor of a cover up about President Obama's birth place. The governor shot back calling Trump, quote, "a fool." Besides his birther sympathy, here's another reason why Mr. Trump thinks he'd make a fine president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I mean, part of the beauty of me is that I'm very rich.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, that is sure to thrill Main Street. You know how it feels about Wall Street. But all of this is really beside the point. Donald Trump is not likely to become president despite what the polls say, unless, American voters like the fact he's distracting from an important debate that should be taking place in this country.
So, talk back today, is it time to fire Donald Trump right out of the political arena? Write to me, Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I will gladly read your responses later this hour.
MALVEAUX: What do you say, Carol?
COSTELLO: You're fired.
MALVEAUX: You're fired. Do your best, Donald.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Or talk about something of substance.
MALVEAUX: Yes. And truth be told. I mean, I went to Hawaii. I did a documentary in Obama. There are a lot of people remember him from his childhood.
COSTELLO: Yes. So, he wasn't just a mystery child dropped in Hawaii. Who is this alien?
MALVEAUX: Not accurate. OK. Thank you, Carol.
Here's a look at what's ahead on the rundown. The coalition's quagmire. To arm or not to arm those Libyan rebels.
Also, the woman who dared to speak out against Gadhafi. Wait until you hear what her mother has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AISHA AHMAD, AL OBEIDY'S MOTHER (through translator): I'm not afraid of Gadhafi. If I would see his face, I would strangle him.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: And President Obama wants to clean up America's dirty energy, but is his goals likely to happen? That's going to be up next.
Plus, the heroes tackling Japan's nuclear plant and radiation that is wreaking havoc on them.
And finally, Syria's president standing defiant amid chaos. What if his dynasty the next domino to fall?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Opposition fires in Libya are trying to now regain momentum. Moammar Gadhafi's forces beat back the rebels in several areas where they had been gaining some ground.
Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, he's joining us from Tripoli.
And, Nic, I understand you just came back from touring a hospital there. What did you see?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We were taken to see a lady there, a pregnant lady, 44 years old, to have one of her lower bones in her leg, her tibia, I believe, broken in what we were told was shrapnel following a coalition (ph) in a town called (INAUDIBLE). That's about two hours right from Tripoli. What we know took place in that town, and what she described was a coalition strike that hit an ammunition dump.
That's what we know from journalists who were there yesterday. And when that ammunition dump continued to explode, the weapons flying out of there, rockets in sash-like (ph), one of them, this lady told us, one of those missiles hit a house, and that's how she was injured. So, it was a second re-explosion, she explained, following a coalition missile strike. This is the first person that we've seen who does appear to have injuries consistent with what the government has told us against into this a result of coalition strikes.
Just one person from this town, and her leg was heavily bandaged. This was a very, very carefully controlled to this hospital, but I have to say that the government official who escorted us there was checked by at least two other government agencies when we got to the hospital. The army seemed to be in control. Then also, there seemed to be another intelligence agency checking out the government officials and multiple layers of security at the hospital there, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Nic, I know you've been covering this. Does it seem as if this is part of the government's effort to show that there are civilian casualties to perhaps undermine what is taking place of the coalition forces?
ROBERTSON: Absolutely. I mean, the government has been trying to do this now for over a week, which is take us and show us civilian casualties. And they've variously described dozens, you know, killed and wounded. There have been funerals have been taken to where there were more than 20 up to 30 coffins there. We were told these were civilian casualties. The government hasn't been able to prove any of this. Any of this.
And certainly, the numbers that the government claims that have been injured and even the people themselves just don't seem to exist. So, this does appear to be the first person that we've been to see who does appear to have injuries consistent with what she described and what other journalists witnessed at the scene there yesterday, and the video that her brother gave us on his cell phone that he took of that damaged house does seem to be consistent with her story.
And by this, a coalition missile hitting an ammunition dump in a military facility close to where she lived. She described rushing out of the house when she heard the first bomb to see what was happening, and then, she says somebody told her to go back in, and when she went back in, all these other missiles, ammunition dump took off (ph) and one of them hit her house. And that's how she appeared to being injured, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Nic Robertson out of Tripoli, thank you so much for keeping us updated on all the latest developments there.
We are also watching as well out of Washington, Georgetown University. That is where President Obama will be speaking very shortly. He's going to be talking about a comprehensive energy policy that he's been trying to push forward through Congress. It comes at a time when a lot of people have questions, rising gas prices, unrest in the Middle East, as well as Japan's nuclear plants on the verge of meltdown.
What does this mean for the United States energy policy? President Obama to outline that very shortly. We'll keep our eyes on those cameras and bring it to you live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: She watched on television, horrified as her daughter was manhandled by Libyan security forces. Now, the mother of the woman who said she was raped by Libyan militia man has harsh words for Moammar Gadhafi. Cameras captured the disturbing scene as Iman al- Obeidy burst into hotel where international journalist were staying to tell her story. CNN's Reza Sayah travels to Obeidi's hometown to talk with her family about what happened to her.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Moammar Gadhafi's manhandling Iman al-Obeidy, forcibly taking her away despite her cries for help. The images have sparked a mother's rage.
AHMAD (through translator): I'm not afraid of Gadhafi. If I were to see his face, I would strangle him.
SAYAH: Like much of the world, Aisha Ahmad saw the pictures on television, but this was her daughter. AHMAD (through translator): I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep.
SAYAH: This is where Ahmad and her husband, a retired customs agent, raised al-Obeidy and her nine siblings, in old two-storey home with the courtyard in the coastal town of Tobruk. This was five-year- old Iman on a family vacation. This was college graduation day. Al- Obeidy studies law in Tripoli, her mother says. She went there to have a better life with dreams of one day having a family and moving to France.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGE)
SAYAH: Her parents say al-Obeidy never said anything about being raped, but they believe her and applaud her courage.
AHMAD (through translator): God made me proud. He just made me proud.
SAYAH: They say they don't believe regime claims that al-Obeidy is free. Let's see her if it's true, they say. Ahmad says on Sunday, a man called with a bribe.
AHMAD (through translator): They said, tell your daughter whatever she wants, she'll have, money, house, security, but she'll have to change her story. I said no. I won't exchange my daughter's honor for money.
SAYAH (on-camera): In what is clearly an attempt by the Gadhafi regime to discredit Iman al-Obeidy, even before all the facts are out, some regime officials have suggested, she's a promiscuous woman, leading a lifestyle, they say, that's not in keeping with Islam.
SAYAH (voice-over): The family responded by holding an engagement ceremony for al-Obeidy in front of the town mosque. Despite her absence, a defiant message to the regime that al-Obeidy honor is unbroken and so is their call for justice against Gadhafi and his regime.
AHMAD (through translator): When we go all the way to Tripoli, we'll cut his head off and bring it here.
SAYAH: Reza Sayah, CNN, Tobruk, Libya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: The turmoil in the Middle East and rising gas prices now, the crisis in Japan and new concerns about nuclear safety. Events overseas raising a lot of questions now about future energy needs here at home. We're waiting for a speech by President Obama on America's energy security. He's going to call for reducing the nation's foreign oil imports by one-third over the next 10 years.
He wants to increase the amount of electricity that's produced from clean energy to 80 percent. That means more use of wind and solar and natural gas and clean-coal technology. And the president is expected to reaffirm his support for nuclear power as an energy source.
I want to bring in our Rob Marciano to talk about the energy plan.
And Rob, the president initially called for more offshore drilling and then, the BP oil rig exploded. You were there. You saw what unfolded. What was your take away from that?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the enormity of it all, the obvious take away is that it's not clean energy. When we burn it, it's not clean. But when we dig it out of the ground, it's clearly not clean. When we have an environmental disaster of that scope, other than the Gulf War, it's the worst environmental disaster in our history. When you have over 200,000 million gallons of oil being spilled in that area, 11 men died, thousands countless critters died, and what the long-term impacts, we just don't know.
So, I drive a car. You know, I know you drive a car. I use petroleum products every day. So, this is something that we're depending on, and until we're weaned off it somehow, we're going to keep on drilling.
MALVEAUX: That's a tough thing to do, obviously. The oil company say there are not enough opportunities. They need to continue to drill in more and more places, but the Obama administration is hitting back, and they're saying, look, you know, we've already leased these particular areas. You're not even using what we've given you. Can you give us a sense of what it looks like, the layout of the land in terms of drilling?
MARCIANO: Well, this is just the gulf alone, and the gulf pumps out about 25 percent of what we use on a daily basis. About 1.5 million barrels a day are pumped out of the Gulf of Mexico. This is the highlight of the active platforms of which is about 850 of them out there. Now, there are thousands of platforms that are lying either dormant or being ready to be used. And as far as where they're drilling or where they're going, notice that as we get towards the deeper waters. There are fewer of them.
There are only 15 offshore wells that are in deep water. Water that's over 1,000 feet deep. The Deepwater Horizon was 5,000 feet. They've gone as deep as over 9,000 feet, but it costs a lot of money to do that. But once they do it, that's where they get a lot of their oil. Of the 1.5 million barrels that are bumped out every day, a million come from these 15 alone.
MALVEAUX: Wow.
MARCIANO: But you know, how these oil companies make their decisions? It's a cost-benefit analysis the price of oil. As the price of oil now has creeped out, they'll probably start getting in there and tapping some of that oil. So, it's a supply-demand issue, always has been, always will be, and, you know, legislation may very well help. But until that oil is gone is when we're really going to start to act. MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Rob. It's a political issue, as well. We know the president who's facing from critic has been from Republicans who are saying, look, we want more drilling. He's saying we got to be -- we've, actually, got to be more cautious about it.
MARCIANO: It is a delicate balance. That's for sure.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Rob.
We're waiting again for President Obama to speak. You see Georgetown University podium set up for the president to arrive and talk about his clean energy polices. As soon as that happens, we'll bring it right to you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We are now waiting for President Obama to speak at Georgetown University. That is where he's going to be addressing the nation talking about his nuclear energy policy and energy policy, in general, as well, but it will also include references to nuclear energy. A comprehensive policy urging Americans to lessen their dependency on foreign sources of oil. We'll bring that to you as soon as it begins.
Well, as Japan deals with its nuclear crisis, the government in Tokyo has ordered immediate safety upgrades at all of the nuclear plants in the entire country, and there is a new worry today. Smoke was seen briefly at a second plant that is near the crippled plant in Fukushima.
Michael Friedlander, he is a former senior operator at three U.S. nuclear power plants. He's joining us from Hong Kong. Michael, as always, thank you for putting this all into perspective for us. So, these reports about smoke at a second plant, how significant is this? What do we know about the potential danger from that second nuclear plant?
MICHAEL FRIEDLANDER, FORMER SENIOR POWER PLANT OPERATOR: Well, as you talk about the Fukushima Daini plant, which is about six miles north than one that we've been talking about for two weeks, there were some smoke reported coming out at one of the turbine buildings. Now, again, we don't have a lot of those details, but the reality over this, we know that those plants were put in a cold shutdown safe condition more than ten days or so ago.
So, I don't have any particular concerns about that. Particularly the report that I saw said that the smoke came out for about an hour, and then, it went away. So, it was probably something very localized in one of the turbine buildings that didn't affect the reactors, themselves.
MALVEAUX: That's very good news. Are there any plans, the Japan, that we should be worried about or keeping our eyes on?
FRIEDLANDER: Well, you know, in that region of northern Japan, there's actually quite a few of nuclear reactors. I certainly would have expected that by now if there were others that were as affected as the ones we've been discussion at Daiichi, that we would have know about them by now. And certainly as you're more than well aware, Japan is a very active seismic zone. So anything can happen at any moment. But we'll just keep our fingers crossed.
MALVEAUX: Everybody's keeping their fingers, toes, everything crossed here. There have been concerns now about a possible leak or breach in the containment structure in one of the reactors at Fukushima that we've been talking about.
Do you believe, is there any evidence there was a breach there?
FRIEDLANDER: No, you know what? There's been a lot of dialogue going around out in the industry. Some of it is self-induced and some of it is just pure conjecture.
The reality of it is, is for the three reactors -- unit one, unit two and unit three, we do not have any tangible evidence that there is a breach of the containment or a breach of the reactor cooling system. And, indeed, we have a pretty compelling body of evidence to suggest that those vessels and containers remain intact. By looking at the temperatures and the pressures and some of the other ancillary indications, we're very, very certain that they're in intact.
Now, that doesn't mean no one should rule out that maybe that there's a valve that's leaking by somewhere. Now again, right after the event happened through the normal emergency procedures, they go and they check to make sure that all the valves are in the proper positions. And, indeed, that was accomplished. We saw that in the operator logs.
But over time, there is some leakage. And, indeed, that's probably where a lot of the radioactivity that we found in the turbine building is probably coming from leaking valves.
MALVEAUX: OK. Michael Friedlander, it sounds like it's much less serious, if that is the case, in fact, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions, what is taking place at both of those nuclear plants, those power plants.
Michael, thank you once again.
As you can imagine, working in the crippled Japanese power plant is a dangerous job. Our CNN's Paula Hancocks, she talked with one of these workers about what his day to day life is like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Food and water are rationed. Crackers for breakfast, a ready-made meal for dinner.
He says a few hundred people sleep in a building 500 meters away from the reactors. Many sleep on the floor in the conference room. Those who can't fit sleep in the corridor or in stairwells.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: And the biggest worry for these workers, dangerous levels of radiation, as we can imagine. Joining us is our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
And Elizabeth, this is a question that we have been asking all week. You see these workers, they're going in there, you can only imagine what kind of radiation, what levels are we talking about that these people have been exposed to?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, because it's certainly higher than what just people living in nearby towns have been exposed to. They're at ground zero, so to speak and so there's certainly a lot of concern about them.
I'm going to show you some numbers that kind of tell you, put into perspective how much radiation they're getting. So, you and I, and anyone living -- just regular people, get about three millisieverts a year of exposure, just from living, just from being in the environment.
These workers, about 19 of them, have gotten 100 millisieverts since the earthquake happened. As you can see, that's quite high. Now, once that 100 hits 250, they have to leave. They're not allowed to be at the plant anymore.
Now, we asked experts, what does that mean short term? I mean, are these folks suffering? And they said, no. That actually short term they probably don't have any radiation illness or other problems like that unless they have some kind if direct contact. If they stepped into, for example, radioactive water and didn't have the proper gear on, you know, that would be different with that kind of direct contact.
But just sort of a day in, day out exposure that reaches 100 millisieverts, that don't expect to have short term effects from that.
MALVEAUX: What would be the long-term impact?
COHEN: The long-term effect, the experts tell us, would not be an increased risk of getting cancer. And, you know, not surprisingly. But, what was interesting to me was that the risk was not huge. You know --
MALVEAUX: Really?
COHEN: It really wasn't. They didn't have an exact number for me, but it wasn't as if they were 10 times more likely than you or me to get cancer. They're more likely, but not necessarily hugely more likely.
They're, of course, going to be studying these folks, because in any given group of people, some people are going to get cancer. So what they'll look for over the years to come is, are they getting higher rates of cancer than the rest of us?
MALVEAUX: And what about the psychological toll? Obviously it must be really, very difficult.
COHEN: It must be horrible. And I think sometimes we forget that not only are these men trying to clean up this mess, but they've lost people in this tragedy. So we've heard about some workers -- one worker -- where his parents were swept out with the tsunami and they don't know where he is. I mean, having that kind of unknown all around you, it must just be horrible. And that's in some ways -- I mean, they've really got to watch out for that. I mean, I would imagine they've got to watch for suicide and depression and all of that.
MALVEAUX: All right. OK, thank you, Elizabeth. We appreciate it.
We have three stories covering three very different social issues and we want you to tell us which one you'd like to see on CNN NEWSROOM. You vote by texting us and these are the options.
First choice -- Middle East governments trying to put down dissent by censoring the internet. Guess what? American companies are helping them do it.
The second choice -- sunny Acapulco's dark secret -- child sex trafficking. We're going to show you what is being done to stop it at that popular vacation spot.
And your third choice -- right now, your television could be collecting valuable information on you. Who wants it and are they invading your privacy?
So, vote by texting 22360. Vote 1 for U.S. companies help censor the internet; 2 for Acapulco child sex trafficking; or vote 3 for what your TV knows about you.
The winning story will air in the next hour.
We now want to go to President Obama at Georgetown University, where he'll be addressing his comprehensive energy policy.
(BEGIN COVERAGE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Everybody, please have a seat. Please have a seat.
It is wonderful to be back at Georgetown.
(APPLAUSE)
We've got a number of acknowledgments. First of I just want to thank President DeGioia for his outstanding leadership here, but also for his hospitality. We also have here the Secretary Steven Chu, my energy secretary. Where's Steven? There he is over there.
(APPLAUSE)
Secretary Ken Salazar of the Interior Department.
(APPLAUSE)
Secretary Tom Vilsack, our agriculture secretary.
(APPLAUSE)
Ray La Hood, our transportation secretary.
(APPLAUSE)
Lisa Jackson, our EPA administrator.
(APPLAUSE)
Nancy Sutley, who is our council on environmental quality director right here.
(APPLAUSE)
A couple of great members of Congress. Congressmen Jay Ensley of Washington. Where is Jay?
(APPLAUSE)
There he is over there.
And Rush Holtz of New Jersey is here.
(APPLAUSE)
We've got -- he didn't bring the weather with him, but the Mayor of Los Angeles, California Antonio Villaraigosa is in the house.
(APPLAUSE)
Mayor Scott Smith of Mesa, Arizona is here.
(APPLAUSE)
And most importantly, the students of Georgetown University are here.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I want to start with a difficult subject. The Hoyas had a tough loss, coach.
(LAUGHTER)
Coach is here, too, and I love Coach Thompson. I love his dad and the great tradition that they've had.
(APPLAUSE)
And it turned out VCU was pretty good.
(LAUGHTER)
I had Georgetown winning that game in my bracket so we're all hurting here.
(LAUGHTER)
But that is what next year is for.
We meet here at a tumultuous time for the world. In a matter of months, we've seen regimes toppled, we've seen democracy take root in North Africa and in the Middle East.
We've witnessed a terrible earthquake, a catastrophic tsunami, a nuclear emergency that has battered one of our strongest allies and closest friends and the world's third largest economy.
We've led an international effort in Libya to prevent a massacre and maintain stability throughout the broader region.
(APPLAUSE)
And as Americans, we're heart broken by the lives that have been lost as a result of these events. We're deeply moved by the thirst for freedom in so many nations. And we're moved by the strength and the perseverance of the Japanese people.
And, it is natural, I think, to feel anxious about what all of this means for us. And one big area of concern has been the cost and security of our energy. Obviously, the situation in the Middle East implicates our energy security. The situation in Japan leads us to ask questions about our energy sources.
In an economy that relies so heavily on oil, rising prices at the pump affect everybody. Workers, farmers, truck drivers, restaurant owners, students who are lucky enough to have a car. Businesses see rising prices at the pump hurt their bottom line. Families feel the pinch when they fill up their tank. And for Americans that are already struggling to get by, the hike in gas prices really makes their lives that much harder. It hurts.
If you're somebody who works in a relatively low-wage job and you've got to commute to work, it takes up a big chunk of your income. You may not be able to buy as many groceries. You may have to cut back on medicines in order to fill up the gas tank. So this is something that everybody is affected by.
Now, here's the thing. We have been down this road before. Remember it was just three years ago that gas prices topped $4 a gallon. I remember because I was in the middle of a presidential campaign. Working folks certainly remember because it hit a lot of people pretty hard.
And because we were at the height of political season, you had all kinds of slogans and gimmicks and outraged politicians. They were waving their three-point plans for $2 a gallon gas. You remember that. Drill, baby, drill. We were going through all that.
(LAUGHTER)
And none of it was really going to do anything to solve the problem. There's a lot of hue and cry, a lot of fulminating and hand ringing but nothing actually happened. Imagine that in Washington.
(LAUGHTER)
The truth is, none of these gimmicks, none of these slogans made a bit of difference. When gas prices finally did fall, it was mostly because the global recession had led to less demand for oil. Companies were producing less. The demand for petroleum went down. Prices went down.
Now that the economy is recovering, demand is back up. Add the turmoil in the Middle East and it's not surprising that oil prices are higher. And every time the price of a barrel of oil on the world market rises by $10, a gallon of gas goes up by about 25 cents.
The point is, the ups and downs in gas prices, historically, have tended to be temporary. But when you look at the long-term trends, there are going to be more ups in gas prices than downs in gas prices. And that's because you've got countries like India and China that are growing at a rapid clip.
And as 2 billion more people start consuming more goods, they want cars just like we've got cars, they want to use energy to make their lives a little easier just like we've got. It is absolutely certain that demand will go up a lot faster than supply. It's just a fact.
So here is the bottom line, there are no quick fixes. Anybody who tells you otherwise isn't telling you the truth. And we will keep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we finally get serious about a long-term policy for a secure, affordable energy future. We are going to have to think long term, which is why I came here, to talk to young people here at Georgetown because you have more of a stake in us getting our energy policy right than just about anybody.
Now here is a source of concern. We have known about the dangers of our oil dependence for decades. Richard Nixon talked about freeing ourselves from dependence on oil, and every president since that time has talked about freeing ourselves from oil. That promise has, so far, gone unmet.
I talked about reducing America's dependence on oil when I was running for president. And I'm proud of the historic progress we have made over the last two years toward that goal, and we will talk about that in a little bit. But I have to be honest, we have run into the same political gridlock, the same inertia that has held us back for decades. That has to change. That has to change.
We cannot keep going from shock when gas prices go up to trance when they go back down. We go back to doing the same things we've been doing until the next time there's a price spike and then we're shocked again. We can't rush to propose action when gas prices are high and then hit the snooze button when they fall again. We can't keep on doing that.
The United States of America cannot afford to bet our long-term prosperity, our long-term security on a resource that will eventually run out. And even before it runs out, it will get more and more expensive to extract from the ground.
We can't afford it when the costs to our economy, our country and our planet are so high. Not when your generation needs us to get this right. It is time to do what we can to secure our energy future.
And today, I want to announce a new goal. One that is reasonable, one that is achievable and one that is necessary.
When I was elected to this office, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. By a little more than a decade from now, we will have cut that by one-third. That is something that we can achieve.
(APPLAUSE)
We can cut our oil dependence by a third.
I set this goal knowing we will still have to import some oil. It will remain an important part of our energy portfolio for quite some time; until we've gotten alternative energy strategies fully in force.
And when it comes to the oil we import from other nations, obviously, we have got to look at neighbors like Canada and Mexico that are stable and steady and reliable sources.
MALVEAUX: You have been watching President Obama at Georgetown University outlining his comprehensive energy policy trying to push it forward at a time that the president recognizes is a difficult time with the near nuclear meltdowns that are occurring in Japan and also the unrest in the Middle East.
The president is making the case this is the perfect time to push forward the agenda so that Americans become less dependent on foreign sources of oil and use different kinds of energy sources being solar and wind power as well as biofuels. Just some of the points the president is making there as he pushes this forward. A political issue as well.
Now we're going to monitor, as you see in the corner of the screen, the president's remarks. If there's any other news that comes out of his speech, we'll get right back to it.
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MALVEAUX: Your taxes, they're due April 18th this year, and that's less than four weeks away. Stephanie Elam is here with today's top tips on taxes.
Steph, I can't believe it's already here, four weeks away.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is already here. It is already here, Suzanne. And some people are going, oh, I have three extra days, and so they're going to try to wait even longer, but it's now definitely time to stop procrastinating and get all of your paperwork in order.
In Houston, by the way, Turbo Tax says you guys take top prize for the fifth time in 10 years as the most tax procrastinating city, followed by Chicago and New York. Overall, the tax software company estimates that 27 percent of taxpayers wait until the last two weeks to file their taxes.
But if you are procrastinating because you can't pay, the IRS says don't panic, if you can't pay the full amount you know, the IRS still says by April 18th and pay as much as you can to avoid any penalties and interests. You'll also need to set up an installment payment plan with the agency.
And if you need more time, you can get it automatically, just request a six-month extension to October 17th to file your taxes. Suzanne and I will give me -- keeping our eyes on this as we get closer to the big deadline.
MALVEAUX: All right. So thanks so much. Everybody's going to be working on their taxes, maybe they'll start this weekend. Thanks.
All right, going to take a quick break.
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MALVEAUX: Potential presidential candidate Donald Trump wants to know where President Obama was born. Well, Trump released his own birth certificate to show how easy it is, but that document turned out to be an unofficial hospital form.
Our Carol Costello joins us with all the responses.
Carol, you told me that you're getting like hundreds?
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. We're riding the crazy train today, Suzanne.
"Talk Back" question of the day, is it time to fire Donald Trump from the political arena?
This from Michael, "As an Obama supporter who enjoys a diverse, divisive slate of Republican candidates, each basically a one-trick pony with no chance of winning a general election, I welcome Trump's entry. Every circus needs a clown."
This from Todd, "Trump may not be a serious contender for president and be only doing this for the publicity, but he does say things that I think are on many people's minds. I like that he's in the arena of for no other reason than that."
This from D.J., "I used to like 'The Donald' until he started all this senseless Obama bashing. Invite him to the studio, put him on speakerphone, me and a hundred of my friends would be glad to yell at the top of our lungs, 'You are fired.'"
And this from Sal, "His hair has a better chance of winning the presidential nomination (than he does)."
Facebook.com/CarolCNN.
MALVEAUX: Should I invite him to talk to you?
COSTELLO: I'm sure he would be glad to come on this show now.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: All right, Carol. We'll see what others have to say about that.
COSTELLO: OK.
MALVEAUX: Thanks, Carol.
Going to take a quick break.
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