Return to Transcripts main page

Nancy Grace

Triple Tragedy in Japan

Aired March 16, 2011 - 20:00   ET

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

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. Devastation in Japan. The most massive earthquake in over 100 years triggers a tsunami that rocks Japan, leaving total destruction in its wake. And tonight, the death toll rising into the thousands. Over 13,000 dead or missing. Numbers climbing. Why?

And now the nuclear radiation after nuclear power plants designed to shut down in the event of an earthquake but do not. Japanese and Americans on Japan soil struggling to survive as the fear crosses the ocean to America. Is nuclear fallout heading to American shores?

Bombshell tonight. In the last minutes, the head of the U.S. regulatory commission announces fuel rods at the nuclear power plants now exposed and emitting extremely high levels of nuclear radiation. Also at this hour, the governor of California declares a state of emergency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The images are tough to watch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God! The building`s going to fall!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stories are even harder to hear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was the town of Minama Sanriku (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Minamisin Riku (ph), Japan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Residential area called Hutaki (ph) has little left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every time I lie down to go sleep or to rest, there`s a big aftershock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The water was surging in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Homes and buildings shredded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pandemonium broke out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an absolute horrific event.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): His home swept away and crushed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I tried to flee in that direction behind us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We were immersed in water up to our necks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I was washed away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We did not have time to go retrieve them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I could hear a voice from behind me saying, Hurry up, hurry up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): He did not have enough time to look for his wife.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The tsunami spared little in its path.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are still many bodies under this rubble.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It`s hard to believe almost everything has been washed away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Memories of life before the wave litter the sodden ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that`s the situation here in Japan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. The devastation in Japan. The most massive earthquake in over 100 years triggers a tsunami, rocking Japan, leaving total destruction in its wake. Over 13,000 dead and missing. Now nuclear radiation. Japanese and Americans struggling to survive. Is the nuclear fallout heading to American shores? In the last minutes, the head of the U.S. regulatory commission announces fuel rods there at the nuclear power plants now exposed and emitting extremely high levels of nuclear radiation. This as the governor of California declares a state of emergency!

Straight out to Sanjay Gupta joining us. Sanjay, what can you tell us?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, we`re in Tokyo now, where all we can say is that the radiation levels have certainly spiked at the plants, these nuclear facilities. People have been measuring these over the last several days and they`ve gone up and down. And there have been levels that have been particularly high, much higher than normal. You know, and when I say that, exponentially so, in terms of what you`d typically expect.

Now, what I think people are now paying attention to is that radioactive material that gets into the air. Where are they going after that? What`s the wind doing with them? For example, we`re south of that particular area, in Tokyo. And here yesterday, radiation levels were about 20 times normal.

Now, Nancy, people hear 20 times normal, and they`re going to say that, you know, this is -- this is absolutely a life-threatening situation, and that`s not the case. I mean, 20 times normal still are low enough where there`s not an impact on human health. But the concern is, are they going to continue to go up? Are they going to stay elevated? What does the future hold here (INAUDIBLE) sort of the point you were making at the beginning of the show.

GRACE: Joining us from Tokyo is Sanjay Gupta. Also with us, Brian Todd, joining us from Japan. Brian, thank you for being with us. Brian, what can you tell us?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Nancy, we are in the town of Kamaishi (ph), one of the hardest hit areas in the country. We`ve been here now for the better part of a couple of days. You know, the residents here are still pretty much shellshocked. We`re combing through neighborhoods with rescue teams, trying to find anyone in the rubble.

And now the weather has turned on these teams. There was a heavy snowfall yesterday and overnight, so they`ve got a pretty decent blanket of snow on the ground. It`s making the going very treacherous for these teams because the snow essentially throws a blanket and kind of a deceptive blanket over some of the rubble and some of the houses and buildings that are crushed, so you don`t know if you`re stepping on solid ground or you`re stepping right into a void.

That`s what these teams are up against, and we`re kind of combing through this area with them. It just makes it much more treacherous for them than it would be normally.

GRACE: Back to Sanjay Gupta joining us in Tokyo. Sanjay, when you tell us the radiation is 20 times normal, but that that`s OK, that`s kind of hard to take in. How can that be OK?

GUPTA: Well, you know, just living, frankly, in most countries in the world, working in the (INAUDIBLE) studio, like you do, Nancy, you`re exposed to a certain amount of radiation. We all are. It`s called background radiation. You can measure it. There`s a certain amount of it. It`s a very low level (INAUDIBLE) that doesn`t have an impact on human health.

If it gets to even 20 times that level, that`s still going to be (INAUDIBLE) the amount of radiation that you take in a year, now you`re taking it in about, you know, less than a month. So that`s one way to think about it. Is it going to (INAUDIBLE) is it going to have an impact on your health? Are you going to feel (INAUDIBLE) Are you going to vomit? Are you going to have any skin changes? Are you going to lose your hair? No, not at those particular levels.

Is there a long-term cancer risk because of these things? Unlikely, but this isn`t something that`s been well (INAUDIBLE) So that`s obviously -- that`s going to be of concern. Could it increase your cancer risk 20, 30, 40 years down the line? That`s something that people are looking into. But right now, at these levels, it`s unlikely that anyone`s going to become sick or develop radiation sickness because of radiation.

GRACE: Sanjay, we are hearing from the head of the U.S. regulatory commission that there are rods, nuclear rods, exposed and they are emitting very dangerous levels of radiation now. If the levels, for instance, where you are in Tokyo, continue to rise, when will it become a danger?

GUPTA: Well, that is (INAUDIBLE) somewhat un, sort of, predictable (INAUDIBLE) It`s one of these things where now, you know, you have exposed rods, so they`re going to release lots of radiation. And by the way, Nancy, you have 180 people who are working right there. They`re really being exposed. It`s unbelievable what they`re doing, trying to prevent more radiation from getting into the atmosphere.

But for us down here, you know, obviously, it`s going to mean measuring the radiation levels continuously in the air. If those rods stay exposed and they`re releasing more radiation, that`s going to be of concern, I think, for people in the surrounding areas.

A lot of people, Nancy, are wearing something that looks like this. It`s called a pocket dosimiter. It`s basically measuring how much radiation I`m being exposed to (INAUDIBLE) individuals can wear this. It tells me how much radiation I`ve received. It also alarms if suddenly the radiation levels go up. So I have some idea of what my personal exposure is. It quadrupled over the last 36 hours. Again, just to hear that it quadrupled sounds kind of frightening, but still well within sort of limits that are not impactful on human health.

But people are going to be keeping a close eye on things like this to determine whether they should be evacuating or they should be taking certain medications to prevent disease. All these sort of things are being taken into consideration literally on a minute-by-minute basis, Nancy.

GRACE: You know, Sanjay -- everyone, Sanjay Gupta joining us live from Tokyo right now. He`s in the midst of what is going on. Sanjay, while I`ve got you, let me ask you -- you just said medications can be taken to avoid illnesses resulting from nuclear radiation. What medications can you take to avoid that?

GUPTA: Well, one of the big things they`ve learned after Chernobyl, for example, was that the incidence of thyroid cancer went up. You know, people -- the radiation has -- can have radioactive iodine in it. That can get into the body and it seems to affect the thyroid gland (INAUDIBLE) taken up in the thyroid gland, and that can increase the likelihood of developing cancer later on in life.

What the medication is, Nancy, is an iodine that is stable, not radioactive. Take it if you`ve been exposed, and that stable iodine kind of floods your thyroid gland and sort of protects it, keeps the radioactive iodine from getting in. So you`re taking this medication to sort of just coat -- if you think of it like that, coat your thyroid gland and prevent that radioactivity from getting in.

It protects one particular organ. It`s not going to protect your whole body, but it`s one thing that people may be asked to do if radiation levels continue to rise.

GRACE: That is the concern, as you know, Sanjay. The governor of California has now declared a state of emergency. People in Arizona are extremely disturbed that radiation can -- through wind currents and the shifting of clouds and air, can come across the oceans to them, as well as in California. We hear all about taking iodide, but is there anything else you can do? As you pointed out, iodide only protects you -- protects your thyroid.

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, you know, look, if things stay the way they are and radiation levels don`t go up any further, it`s unlikely that these radiation particles are going to cross 500 miles across an ocean and get to the United States. But I can understand the anxiety. And if the radiation levels go up and they keep going up, there`s some more in the way of nuclear accidents, then I think there could be real concern here.

What else can you do? (INAUDIBLE) question, you want to -- you know, people talk about time, distance and shielding, Nancy. So you want to decrease your time of exposure, so you know, get away from where the source is. Increase distance, so if you`re close to the source, move further away. And shield -- living inside your home, even, you know, having -- being behind walls, closing the ventilation, for example, so you`re not circulating a lot of air from outside to in.

Those are all things people are being told to do in Japan that live (INAUDIBLE) kilometers of these plants. If they start to widen that zone because of increased concerns about radiation, the advice is going to be similar. But again, you know, 500 miles across an ocean versus 30 kilometers around a plant (INAUDIBLE) different areas. And keep in mind, even within that 30-kilometer evacuation zone, people have not been told to take potassium iodide yet because they`re not worried that the levels have gotten that high. So people on the other side of the country or the other side of the ocean probably don`t need to worry about this right now.

GRACE: Joining us tonight from Japan, Sanjay Gupta, Brian Todd, Anderson Cooper, Martin Savidge, Gary Tuchman. We are bringing you the latest, and we are taking your calls live that we will send to Japan for answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I left my house with nothing. All I managed to do was evacuate my elderly parents. I don`t know what to do because my house and everything is gone. But everyone is in the same position here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My wife is handicapped. The water pressure was too strong. I think it was somewhere here where I let go of her hand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Families search posters, hoping to hear news from a loved one. Name after name of the missing are posted on line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About three miles from the Pacific Ocean. Never in my career of covering natural disasters have I seen a town so utterly pulverized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An American family, Peter and Mary Thales (ph), they have been desperately looking for their son. They live in Michigan. They were very concerned. Their 25-year-old son, Paul, has been teaching English in Japan since January. They had not heard from him since the earthquake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Peter, if you can hear me, I`ve got your son here. Anything you want to tell him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I can hear you, Dad. Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you? We really miss you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m fine, Dad. Just -- yes!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This woman goes back to her house on the off chance her husband is there. She scans the landscape for her husband`s office building, but it is no longer standing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The final death toll could reach tens of thousands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Search crews finding more dead and fewer living victims as the hours pass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. And right now, we are going out to -- do I have Anderson with me yet? We`re getting set up to go straight out to Anderson Cooper. And joining us right now Gary Tuchman. Gary, thank you for being with us. Gary, tell us what you know.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): You know, Nancy, this is such an usual tragedy that we`re having here because the damage is so immense. What`s totally unique about is when you go more three miles away from the beach in all of eastern Japan, there`s absolutely no damage whatsoever. It`s shocking. But then when you get to within three miles of the coast, the damage is more catastrophic than any tragedy or calamity I`ve covered. Towns are just completely gone. A nuclear bomb couldn`t do more damage to the three miles within the coast as this tsunami did.

GRACE: Explain to me why you say that, a nuclear bomb could not do more damage than has already been done by the tsunami.

TUCHMAN: That`s because entire sections of towns, the part closest to the beach, are completely obliterated. I mean, we`ve been in some towns where all you see is rubble. There`s a town where 9,000 residents are still missing. It`s believed that most of them, most of their bodies, were sent out to sea. I mean, it`s just incredible. This was a town of 20,000 people. Half the population has disappeared.

GRACE: Joining me right now from Japan, Anderson Cooper. We managed to get in touch with him and to get that connection. Anderson, we`ve been watching you every night, and not only praying for the people of Japan but praying that you`ll come back home safely. Anderson, tell us, what do you know tonight? What do you see? What`s happening?

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": Well, you know, obviously, there`s kind of two disasters, basically, if you want to frame it like that. I mean, you have this nuclear catastrophe which the U.S. government has now come out today saying it`s actually worse than Japanese officials have been saying, probably not a great surprise, given the history of the lack of transparence of the Japanese government. All the information from the nuclear plant right now is coming from this private company which runs the plant, and they`re giving the information to the Japanese government, who`s kind of being very vague in their public statements. So that`s extraordinary frustrating.

And then you have the search and rescue operations and trying to deal with the aftermath of the tsunami and helping the hundreds of thousands of people who are now homeless, maybe half a million people, 450,000 people at last count, both very different situations, but incredibly difficult challenges with each of them. You just heard from Gary.

The thing you got to understand, Nancy, in searching for missing people -- and there`s some more than 8,000 people, I believe, was the last count I saw, still missing and unaccounted for. In searching for them, this isn`t like Katrina. This isn`t like in Haiti, where there -- Haiti, where there was an earthquake, a building collapsed, and you kind of know where to look for somebody.

Remember, this tsunami is the thing that did all -- most of the damage, and it carried people in some cases for miles, filled with debris. So people who may have lived in, you know, one neighborhood, they may be found five miles away and they may be buried under a debris field that`s 15 feet to 20 feet thick and tall.

So I`ve walked in these debris fields. You have no idea what you`re walking on. I found myself on the top of an upturned car, and that`s what I was standing on, and there were things even underneath that. So in order to find the bodies of people -- and frankly, that`s what they`re looking for right now. I mean, the chance of somebody surviving in the rubble at this point, given the freezing cold temperatures -- and remember, these are people who -- again, it`s not just like a building fell and they found an air pocket. These are people, by and large, who were picked up by fast- moving tsunami waters and carried great distances in with all this debris.

So it is a very grim task. And at this point, a lot of the Japanese government efforts, besides being on the nuclear issue, are less on trying to find survivors and more about trying to help those survivors who are already there and in shelters and are lacking food and water.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: You are seeing the devastation in Japan. And joining us live right now, Anderson Cooper, who I`m sure you all see every night on CNN. Anderson, tell me about how people are managing to survive. And I`m not hearing anything about people trying to -- a mass exodus trying to get out of Japan.

OK, hold on. Liz, try to get me reconnected to Anderson.

And while I do that, to Martin Savidge, Martin also joining us live from Japan and taking your calls. Martin, I`m not hearing anything about a mass exodus, about people mobbing the airports, trying to get out of there.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, there are very long lines at the airports that are here in Tokyo, and there are two of them, really. And where you`re seeing people, that means that are probably trying to get on an airplane. There are a lot of people who are Japanese, there are a lot of foreign nationals who are here that are also trying to leave. There`s no question, Nancy, that many people are either trying to distance themselves away from those nuclear facilities or they`re trying to get out of the country altogether.

You are seeing that played out at the airports. On the streets of Tokyo -- this is a city of 12 million people -- it`s surprising how eerily quiet it is. It feels more like a Sunday afternoon than it would a Thursday day. And you don`t see the amount of traffic that you normally see. Now, there are a couple of reasons for all of this, and it isn`t all just fear, lack of electricity, lack of fuel, as well, Nancy.

GRACE: Back to Anderson. I`ve got him hooked up again. Anderson, while we can still speak to you -- our connection is very iffy -- Anderson, what can you tell me how people are surviving? Are they trying to leave? Are they trying to get out of the country? And Anderson, I don`t believe that the government`s telling us the truth! I think that there are more than dead than 13,000!

COOPER: Yes, there are certainly people trying to leave. I mean, the airport is very crowded. The two airports in Tokyo are crowded, from our correspondents who`ve been there today. There are people boarding trains. But look, there`s a lot of people who can`t leave, who -- I mean, this is their home. They don`t necessarily have somewhere else to go. Some people in Tokyo, for instance, are trying to move further south. But again, at this point, it seems -- you know, Tokyo is relatively far away. But there is a huge crisis in confidence for this Japanese government. Many people believe what they are saying or believe that...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The images are tough to watch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god. The building is going to fall.

GUPTA: The stories are even harder to hear.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This was the town of Minamisanriku.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This is Minamisanriku, Japan.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Residential area called Futaki has little left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every time I lie down to go to sleep or rest, there`s a big aftershock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water was surging in.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Homes and buildings shredded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pandemonium broke out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an absolute horrific event.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His home swept away and crushed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): I tried to flee in that direction behind us

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): We were immersed in water to our necks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): I was washed away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): We did not have time to go retrieving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): I could hear a voice from behind me saying, hurry up, hurry up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): She did not enough time to look for his wife.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The tsunami spared little in its path.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There are still many bodies under this rubble.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Hard to believe almost everything has been washed away. Memories of life the wave littered the southern ground.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And that`s the situation here in Japan.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: We are taking live. Out to Lynn in Ohio. Hi, Lynn.

LYNN, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hi.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

LYNN: My question is -- I just want to say that I think these people are handling this so well. Much more than I can say to the American that I have seen in the catastrophes we`ve had. They don`t lose -- they don`t do that, they take care of the person next to them and I just -- you have to commend these people. They`ve been through so much devastation and my heart goes out to them.

But my question if the nuclear thing blow, then would the United States west coast and Hawaii, would it get to them then if they blow? And how badly would that damage Japan actually? How far -- how much of that area --

GRACE: OK.

LYNN: And --

GRACE: Let`s take Lynn -- do you have another question, Lynn?

LYNN: Yes. And I haven`t heard much news about tsunami. Did it not hit Hawaii and any of the west coast? I haven`t heard anything on that.

GRACE: OK. Let`s go to Chad Myers, CNN weather anchor.

Chad, what can you tell us?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the tsunami did hit Hawaii. It mainly Maui. There was about $20 million damage in the entire state. Then it hit California. And the biggest harbor that really was hurt or damaged would be Crescent City, California. Almost every boat in the harbor.

And tsunami means harbor wave. But Crescent City looks like a crescent. And the beach was just like a catcher`s mitt or like a funnel. And the water went straight up in there.

Let`s get to the first question. What would happen if we really did get to worst-case scenario. The meltdown really did occur. We did have an extreme amount of radiation in the air. Where would it go?

If it happened tonight, it would blow offshore away from the Japanese mainland. That`s fantastic. But it would get into the Pacific Ocean. And we`ve run models here. Most of the day and most of what with we think, because of the way the wind is spinning now -- now the wind is bringing very cold air to Japan. But that wind would take it on up to the north and almost around to Russia.

On the western edge of Russia and also the eastern, maybe even some of the eastern portions there of Alaska. That`s where the wind would take it. This is a cold system pushing all the air out and pushing it up into the Pacific Northwest.

Nancy, what we think at least, and what the nuclear -- I`m not a radiation expert. But what I -- but I listen to all these smart people. And I try to digest everything. Most of the radiation, most of the isotopes that they talk about would lose their radioactivity over the Pacific before it would get to California or Arizona or Nevada.

Now that`s not saying every single isotope would lose its radiation. It wouldn`t. There still would be some radiation even in America but that has not happened and nothing like that is even close to happening yet.

GRACE: Let`s address that. Joining us is Art Stall. He is the former president and chief nuclear officer of NextEra. He is joining us tonight out of Washington, D.C.

Art, thank you for being with us. You have heard all of us talking about the possibility of nuclear radiation coming to American soil. What people are facing, what they`re up against in Japan. You just heard Chad Myers describing the possibility that this could go to Russia. What do you think?

ART STALL, FORMER PRESIDENT AND CHIEF NUCLEAR OFFICER, NEXTERA: Well, Nancy, first of all, thank you for having me this evening. And I just want to say our thoughts and prayers go out to the Japanese people. And especially as a member of the industry, we really have had in our thoughts and prayers the employees at the nuclear plant who are really doing heroic deeds to control this significant accident.

With regard to the potential for radioactive plume to reach the United States, I think the best example that we have to place this in context is what we know happened after the Chernobyl event. And for your viewers who aren`t familiar with the nuclear scale that we used to rate the significance of accidents, Chernobyl was the worst accident that we have had in this industry, really in the history of the industry.

It happened in 1986. This accident has not been rated or ranked as high as the Chernobyl accident. And we don`t believe that it will reach that level. Now for the year that followed the Chernobyl release, which did reach the United States, we know that the incremental dose to the average citizen in the United States was on the order of one milligram.

Now to just put that in a little bit of context. If you go to the doctor and you receive a chest x-ray, you`re going to receive about 10 milligrams. So it`s a small fraction of a chest x-ray integrated over the entire year time period.

GRACE: Joining us is Art Stall. He is the former president and chief nuclear officer at NextEra. I want to talk -- Liz, if you could show me the diagram of the nuclear reactors?

You know just as we go to air, Art, we hear that there are nuclear rods now exposed. Explain to us what that means and why these nuclear reactors in Japan at were built withstand to shut down if an earthquake occurred. They did not.

STALL: Well, Nancy, there is some confusion out there regarding that point. The plants were in fact designed for what we call a design-based earthquake. In this particular case, the magnitude of the earthquake that struck that plant was in excess of the design basis. Along with the following tsunami was also an excessive design basis.

Initially the plant did immediately shut down as it was designed to do. And the emergency back-up power system started up and everything was functioning normally. Then the tsunami hit and it was only after the tsunami hit that the accident began to initiate.

GRACE: We are taking your calls, out to Lynn in Ohio. Hi, Lynn. Oh, Norma in Texas. Thank you.

Hi, Norma.

NORMA, CALLER FROM TEXAS: Hi, Nancy. Thank you so much for covering this today. And I greatly appreciate Anderson out there as well as Sanjay reporting.

I am a mother of a sailor on the USS Ronald Reagan right now. And as you as mother could probably really, really know, now that there has been some nuclear rod exposure, my greatest concern and fear is, would maybe there is more radioactive material more than we originally thought or even hours ago more than we though?

How is this going to affect the folks on the USS Ronald Reagan, I wonder, or even other armed forces that are around there, you know, for humanitarian purposes? I`m quite, quite concerned.

GRACE: Do you know where the Ronald Reagan is right now?

NORMA: Well, I know -- I know it`s -- I know this because -- you know, they`re not able to contact us often. But I know just a baby bit. And that would be that it is on the Pacific. It went away from the disaster. However, what I do know is that bodies are -- you know, all -- wherever they are at, bodies are all around.

OK? I know that much.

GRACE: OK.

NORMA: So whatever washed out to sea is -- they are able to see bodies.

GRACE: They are actually seeing bodies off the USS Ronald Reagan?

NORMA: Yes.

GRACE: So, Art Stall, if they are that close to the radiation, what can it mean?

STALL: Well, we know that the Navy has redeployed their vessels to beyond 50 miles which is well in excess of what has been prescribed by the Japanese authorities for an evacuation zone. So I believe that they`re not in any danger.

GRACE: Joining us right now, Anderson Cooper. We`ve managed to get hooked back up to Anderson.

In addition to that, Andy and Jean Anderson, parents of an American teacher still missing right now in Japan.

Andy and Jean, thank you so much for being with us. What is the last you heard of your child?

ANDY ANDERSON, PARENT OF AMERICAN TEACHER MISSING IN JAPAN AFTER TSUNAMI: Last we heard was that she left the Mangokura Elementary School in Ishinomaki just after the earthquake to ride her bike home. And that was the last time anyone has seen her. That we know of.

GRACE: How did you normally get in touch with her? How did you normally hear from Taylor?

A. ANDERSON: We normally use IM or Skype.

GRACE: Tell me exactly where she was. Where was the school?

A. ANDERSON: It`s east of Ishinomaki. It`s called Mangokura Elementary School. Ishinomaki is in the Miyagi Prefecture about 30 miles northeast of Sendai.

GRACE: To Margaret Haas, Japan expert, with Haas Associates. Margaret, how are Americans supposed to find out about missing Americans on Japanese soil?

MARGARET HAAS, JAPAN EXPERT, HAAS ASSOCIATES: Well, Nancy, that`s a good question. I think thanks to Twitter and new technologies, I think that`s the best way to find out. And I know that many Japanese who speak English, friends of mine, in fact, are north of Tokyo, working and sending information back to people in New York and --

GRACE: Joining us tonight, Andy and Jean, parents of their beautiful daughter --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN`S AC 360: At 2:46 p.m., the massive 9.0 earthquake strikes off Japan`s coastline unleashing a tsunami that swallowed everything in its path.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A state of emergency was declared by the Japanese government later at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Japan`s nuclear nightmare growing even more desperate.

COOPER: The worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Problems at two of the reactors --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The while cloud of smoke or steam is rising.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At number three, there may be some structural damage in the -- around the reactor itself.

COOPER: Three people test positive for radiation exposure in the region around the plant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also in reactor number four, there was a pool of water that may be evaporating of the heating exposing --

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Out to Frank Gonzalez, research scientist at Tsunami Research of University of Washington.

Frank, a lot of us don`t even understand the significance of what a tsunami means. Now the Japanese are suffering not only from the earthquake and the nuclear reactors but the results of the tsunami. Explain how it happened.

FRANK GONZALEZ, RESEARCH SCIENTIST, TSUNAMI RESEARCH AT UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: Well, the tsunami -- Nancy, thank you for having me on.

A tsunami occurs when the ocean bottom moves up and down. And we have a lot of earthquakes around the Pacific Rim of Fire. Japan is right off the Japan trench. And there`s two kinds of movements that an earthquake can induce in the ocean floor. Up and down, sideways or a combination of both.

It`s the up and down motion that creates the tsunami. That`s what happened in this case.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. And joining us right now, Kathy in Hawaii with relatives in Japan.

Hi, Kathy. What`s your question, dear?

KATHY, CALLER FROM HAWAII: Hi, Nancy. I`m just concerned very because my cousins live in Yokohama. And I have an auntie in Aomori and I have an uncle in Sendai.

So my concern is, you know, with this nuclear scare? I`m just wondering if my cousins in Yokohama and Sendai and Aomori is safe.

GRACE: Let`s go to Kirk Spitzer. He`s joining us from Tokyo.

Kirk, so many people here trying to find out what if anything they can do to contact relatives. What, if anything, is Japan doing for that very purpose?

KIRK SPITZER, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: Well, that`s a very good question, Nancy. One of the big problems that people here in Japan are having is communicating with the government. As Anderson mentioned earlier, it`s really hard to get good information. Particularly about the nuclear situation.

Now the -- this morning, for example, the TEPCO, the agency that runs the power plants were basically everyone in Japan that things were fine. That the reactor had stabilized. That there was no more smoke, that there was no more fire. And in fact they were just about to complete a new power line that could restore the reactor`s cooling systems.

And from Washington, we hear from the NRC that the situation could be or probably as far, far worse than that. So people here in Japan are just having a very, very difficult time communicating and particularly with the government and with the officials. So trying to get information about loved ones from Japan is just a very, very difficult thing right now.

GRACE: Joining us there is Kirk Spitzer out of Tokyo.

To Margaret Haas with Haas Associates. She is an expert in Japan and American affairs.

Margaret, many of us do not believe the Japanese government is telling us the truth. There is no way that there are only 4,000 dead and 8,000 missing. It`s absolutely impossible. So why are they doing this? We`re getting conflicting information about the nuclear reactors, about how many are dead, how many are missing. Why?

HAAS: Well, traditionally, Japanese would be more understated. But I think they`ve lost the confidence of the entire nation. It`s unprecedented that the emperor would decide to speak to the people. And I`m sure that was at the urging of the government.

This emperor has never talked to his people. And the only other time the previous emperor talked was when he surrendered to the allies at the end of World War II. So I think the government has lost the faith of the people. And that`s a very big concern for Japan.

GRACE: Joining us now, Dr. Irwin Redlener. He`s the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, author of "Americans at Risk."

Doctor, thank you for being with us. Is America at risk?

DR. IRWIN REDLENER, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, AUTHOR OF "AMERICANS AT RISK": Well, happy to be here, Nancy. Thank you.

Well, America at the moment is actually not at risk. And I know there is a lot of concern, especially on the west coast that with the severe total meltdown. There might be enough radiation into the atmosphere that would carryover.

It is highly unlikely that any Americans from this particular disaster will actually be at risk from radiation or anything else right now. But what we are very much paying attention to, though, is how this all happened in Japan. And what our level of preparedness would be if a similar situation would occur here.

Because after all, as opposed to, say, Haiti, Japan is very much like America in terms of our technological development, our economy and so forth. So we`re watching this very, very carefully to see what happens, and also what factors went into the creation of the horror story in the first place?

GRACE: Caryn Stark, so many people like Andy and Jean Anderson waiting to hear from their loved one in Japan.

What can you tell us, Caryn?

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think we need to be prepared, Nancy, for the fact that people are going to be feeling desperate about that. And it`s OK for them to still have hope. Because they need to believe that they will be able to find their daughter.

When I think about the people in Japan, however, I fee like right now they`re probably shell-shocked. As somebody said. And that`s not a bad thing. That`s a good thing. Because when you get hit with a trauma like this you really are in a state where you feel like it`s happening to someone else.

And that`s a good thing because it helps them to function and get through every day no matter how difficult it is.

The more information they could get from the government, the better it would be, however.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. The devastation in Japan. And in the last hours the governor of California announces a state of emergency.

To Debra Mark, joining us, anchor, Talk Radio 790 KABC. Debra, why the state of emergency in California? What`s happening?

DEBRA MARK, ANCHOR, TALK RADIO 790 KABC: Nancy, two counties have been declared a state of emergency today. And last week there were four counties in northern California.

The tsunami in Japan caused a huge water surge in California, and ports and harbors and other buildings were destroyed. Lots of people had to be evacuated. So there`s been quite a lot of damage in northern California.

And now people in California, Nancy, are fearful of radiation exposure now even though we`re being told that the chances of any radiation coming to the west coast is very, very small, lots of people are not taking any chances, and they are buying potassium iodide pills.

And California health officials are saying, look, you really don`t need that. But people are running to the stores to get that.

GRACE: You know, Debra, I understand why they feel that way. Apparently, the Japanese government is lying to its own people. You really think they`re going to tell us the truth?

I want to go back to Andy and Jean Anderson, parents of an American teacher still missing in Japan. Do you have any numbers or any way to find out through other third parties as to who they -- who you could contact about your daughter -- hold on. We`ve lost them.

To Margaret Haas, is there a way Americans can find out about missing Americans in Japan?

HAAS: I think the best way is to let the news media do just the way you are, Nancy. I think that`s the best way. All kinds of media and friends in Japan are trying to find out who`s missing.

GRACE: Tonight, our prayers in Japan as we watch.

Let`s stop and remember Army 1st Lieutenant Michael Cleary, 24, Dallas, Pennsylvania, killed Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation, Combat Action Badge. Lost his life just before to return home to marry his high school sweetheart.

Loved hunting, fishing, tennis, soccer. Leaves behind parents Jack and Mary Ann. Sisters Erin, Shannon, Kelly. Brother Patrick. Fiancee Erin.

Michael Cleary, American hero.

Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for being with us. And a especially good night from a Georgia Tech student, Connor. Isn`t he handsome? And ladies, he`s single.

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END