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CNN Saturday Morning News

Defiance from Gadhafi Government; Critical Day at Japan Plant; Japanese Still Recovering From Twin Disasters in Wake of Nuclear Crisis; President Obama to Talk Trade in Brazil; Problems With Reverse Mortgages; Recapping First Rounds of NCAA Tournament

Aired March 19, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: At the top of the hour here now, we are tracking two major breaking news stories.

Take a look at that picture there -- this is out of Libya where a fighter jet has gone down in flames and widespread shelling happening right now near the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. This is all happening despite Moammar Gadhafi's claims that a cease-fire is in place. Yes, a cease-fire.

This is the latest sign that the situation in Libya still a serious one, could be a deteriorating one. And a military intervention from the U.S. and other countries could be triggered soon.

Also, in Japan, crews there are battling a nuclear crisis. They resorted to drilling holes in several of the nuclear reactors to try to relieve some of the pressure. And now, abnormal radiation levels have been detected in food near the plant.

From the CNN Center, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING for March 19th. I am T.J. Holmes. Good to be back with you here on Saturday morning.

And a Saturday of developments in Libya and that's where we start. The United Nations is calling for a cease-fire that is being pretty much ignored. Government tanks are on the edge of the city of Benghazi, that's in eastern Libya. They're firing shells into the city. Also, we've seen a fighter jet, you saw that picture moments ago, a fighter jet belonging to the opposition, it went down in flames.

Our national correspondent is working there for us in Tripoli. Also, our Arwa Damon as well, is on the ground in Benghazi reporting for us. But let me let you listen to what we heard a short time ago, a news conference that took place there in Libya from government officials taking an even more defiant tone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSA IBRAHIM, LIBYAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: Libya is not yours. Libya is for all Libyans. The resolutions of the Security Council are invalid because the Security Council is not authorized according to the U.N. charter to intervene in the internal affairs of any country. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Our Nic Robertson was at that press conference. He joins me now from Tripoli.

Nic, hello, once again. We just saw a taste and heard a taste of it right there. But what was the message? And it seems like a direct one to the rest of the world.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a very direct one, T.J. I mean, the message today is that whatever was said yesterday by the foreign minister, that the country respects the U.N. resolution, that's out of the window, which therefore seems to imply that the cease-fire is out of the window and the reality of what we are seeing on the ground, which appears to be government tanks advancing towards Benghazi. The government is essentially now saying that the international community, the European leaders, the U.N., will regret this decision.

But we've heard two letters today that Moammar Gadhafi has sent, one to President Obama and one to British Prime Minister Cameron, French President Sarkozy, and Ban-Ki Moon, the U.N. secretary general. It appears an effort to divide and conquer two different messages.

One to President Obama saying, "What would you do if you were facing an armed insurrection by al Qaeda in your city? You tell me what you would do and we will follow it."

He said that whatever happens, that he will continue to love President Obama. That he is his son. And he said that he will die and the Libyan people will die for him here in Libya in the fight ahead.

But to the Europeans, the message was: you will regret what you are doing.

So, it's an effort at divide and conquer. But clearly, the gloves are off. The government is saying we don't recognize the U.N. resolution, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Our Nic Robertson reporting for us from Tripoli. We are going to continue to check in with you, Nic, as we get more developments out of Libya this morning.

I want to turn now to the j earthquake in Japan -- the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear crisis. Well, in the last hour, another earthquake was felt there by CNN's crew. Other people reporting as well they felt this earthquake in Tokyo, about a 6.0, a 5.9, I believe I have that right, magnitude quake.

Also, some new images we are getting from Japan as well. This could be a good sign in the nuclear crisis. This is video of workers pumping water into a reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Today could be critical in preventing a nuclear meltdown there. Let me give you the latest. Workers hope to start powering the cooling systems, the critical cooling systems for four reactors, hope to do that by the end of today. A government official says water levels at three of those reactors have stabilized. The situation is still pretty unpredictable.

Abnormally high levels as well of radiation have been detected now in spinach and milk from the northeast region. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the amount is what a person is typically exposed to in a year.

All this comes as the human death toll rises -- 7,320 people dead as the official toll now. More than 11,000 still missing. The country's defense minister says defense forces have rescued more than 19,000 people.

So many people in Japan right now and around the world are just in a state of shock at what we are seeing there. But can you imagine the people there, going through it right now, after the quake and then the tsunami, and yes, still the nuclear disaster to deal with.

The tsunami that rushed over the northeast coast left mud, debris everywhere. Clean up efforts are just daunting.

Our Gary Tuchman is in one coastal town that was slammed by that tsunami. He joins us now.

Gary, with so much focus on the nuclear crisis that they are trying to avert now, we have -- it's not like we forget necessarily, but still, we have to remember, there were two other major crises before that one -- and that was the earthquake and the tsunami.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J.

And right now, I'm standing in Kesennuma and no town was hit harder than Kesennuma. About a quarter mile behind me, behind those fire trucks that you see is some of the worst devastation I've ever seen in my career in one single place. It has been obliterated.

There's literally a canyon of cars and trucks and light poles and houses off their foundations and poles. And you can't get past that. (INAUDIBLE). It's heartbreaking.

They were talking to a woman whose daughter and mother were trapped. The daughter and her mother left the house when the tsunami warning happened. The grandfather decided he didn't want to leave, he was going to stay on the second floor, he thought it was safe.

Well, the tsunami came and they have no idea if he's alive or not. They believe their house still stands behind us. But there's hundreds now way to get to the house, rescuers, fire officials can't get there because there are a hundred of tons of rubble in the way and there's no way to get around.

So, conceivably, he could be alive on the second floor of the house asking for help, but there's no way for him to get out and there's no way to get in. It was just an incredible scene.

And also, we are talking about the aftershocks. This is increasing the anxiety here in the nation of Japan. Last night, when I went to sleep, I counted seven aftershocks while I was sleeping. It was pretty unusually to have that many aftershocks. There one was so strong -- usually these aftershock start very slowly and gone up to a crescendo. This one started off very strong. It just shook the entire house that we were in.

So, you are dealing with these people who have aftershocks. They're dealing with this death toll that we know that will keep climbing high. We know that firsthand because we found a body ourselves today while we were walking down there. So, it's a tremendously hard situation here in the nation of Japan -- T.J.

HOLMES: Oh, my goodness. All right. Gary Tuchman there for us on the ground -- Gary, we appreciate you this morning.

We'll continue to check in with our crews in Japan.

Also we want to be checking in with the president who is on the road right now in Latin America this morning, just arriving in Brazil. But why leave the White House with major issues like Japan and Libya going on right now? We'll tell you what's on the president's agenda. That's coming up next.

It's eight minutes past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twelve minutes past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

President Obama landed in Brazil just a short time ago. This is his first stop in this three-country Latin America trip. The president has faced some criticism for taking the trip with all that's going on right now in Libya and Japan.

Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry traveling with the president.

Ed, good morning to you. The president, I guess this probably show --

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

HOLMES: -- just how critical this region is and how much maybe even catching up to do, the United States has to do in this region for the president to be traveling at this time.

HENRY: That's right, T.J. I mean, the bottom line is the president wants this trip to be about three things: jobs, jobs, jobs. But it might wind up being about jobs, Japan and Libya, because as you know, there are all these international crises that are playing out.

That's why before he left the White House, he just landed here in Brasilia a short time ago, the president gave that final ultimatum to Colonel Gadhafi. But they're hoping that because they -- this is a good story to tell about trade in this region, it's booming here right now. The economy in Brazil is growing about 6 percent a year; unemployment far lower than it is in the United States.

And they are buying a lot of American products, high-tech energy equipment. The U.S. is hopeful Brazilians will also, in terms of their infrastructure needs, will be reaching out to U.S. companies as well. They got the World Cup coming up here, 2014. The Olympics in 2016.

It's a huge booming market right now and the president in his weekly radio and Internet address just noted, saying that as he tries to double exports around the world for the U.S., Brazil, this region, playing a key part, saying, quote, "Part of the reason why is the rapid growth of Latin America and their openness to American business. We now export three times as much to Latin America as we do to China. And our exports to the region will soon support more than 2 million jobs here in the United States."

But the key, of course, is going to be what kind of follow up is there after this trip? I remember back in November, we were in Asia with the president who's making the same case. But since then, the Korea free trade agreement that he was pushing then still has not passed with the U.S. Congress. And Republicans note that right now, you got two pending free-trade agreements before the U.S. Congress involving Panama and Colombia, two big countries in this very region.

And so, the key is not going to be the talk here in Latin America, it's going to be the follow up when the president goes back home to the U.S., T.J.

HOLMES: Yes, you talk about the booming market. And some will certainly tell you that China beat the U.S. to that booming market already. So, we got a little catching up to do.

Ed, good to see you this morning, traveling with the president there. Of course, we'll talk to you again soon, buddy.

HENRY: Good to see you.

HOLMES: Well, many of you out there have seen those commercials, get a reverse mortgage, right, to solve all your money problems right now. Is that a good idea, though, a reverse mortgage? Some senior citizens say the rules have changed. Now, they could lose their homes.

It's quarter past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, it's 17 minutes past the hour now.

For many homeowners out there, reverse mortgages have been a lifeline during tough economic times. What in the world are these things first of all? Well, in short, it's a special type of loan that lets you convert a portion of the equity in the home into cash.

But there's a snag now. A new lawsuit claims that policy changes in how the government handles these loans pushing older homeowners into foreclosure.

Clyde Anderson, good to see you once again. It's been awhile. It's been awhile. Did I have that right about reverse mortgages? Essentially, you get some cash?

CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL EXPERT: You get some cash back and it's a couple of different ways that you can get cash back. They'll give you a lump sum or you can get paid monthly over the life of -- the rest of your life for the most part.

HOLMES: OK, who wants them? And who's this benefit necessarily? I guess, what's the market for it?

ANDERSON: Well, generally, it has been a big market. Not necessarily always the good thing for people. But you have to be 62 years of age at least to start pulling the equity that you put into the home. You paid into this home for all these years. Now, you're in the position where you maybe you need these funds for continuing your lifestyle. You can go ahead and pull these payments out.

HOLMES: So, I guess, how popular have these things been given the tough economic times? A lot of people going this route?

ANDERSON: Yes, it's been growing in popularity. The thing in the past though that it's been so expensive to do a reverse mortgage, the excessive fees. And so, when HUD came out with the program, the whole thing was to cap some of the fees. And now, you just have to see king of what's happening now as homeowners are getting stuck in the middle of this, while thinking they did the good thing with the HUD reverse mortgage.

HOLMES: OK. So, you just mentioned HUD there. HUD is being sued now by whom?

ANDERSON: The AARP has a lawsuit against HUD. And what they're claiming is that there's really three individuals that have began this lawsuit. And what they are saying is that when they did the reverse mortgage, they didn't realize that they are left off the title. And so, when they left off the title, what happens in the mortgage is when the spouse or the person that did the mortgage passes away, then the note is due, or it goes back to HUD in this case.

And so, when the spouses are not on the mortgage, therefore HUD wants the money now. They are saying you owe us the amount of the loan. So, in some cases, the houses aren't worth what the loan was. So, if you have a house that was $200,000 and now, you know, you owe $300,000, what can you do? They're going to foreclosure.

HOLMES: The disservice in that as well is that that spouse now is responsible for the full amount of that loan. But someone else who could possibly buy the home wouldn't have to pay the full amount of the loan. ANDERSON: To me, that adds insult to injury --

HOLMES: It does.

ANDERSON: -- because now, a stranger can come in and say, it's on the foreclosed market, I can buy your house for half of what you owe on it.

HOLMES: Are they actually trying to fix it?

ANDERSON: Well, right now, HUD is not, you know, making any comments.

HOLMES: They are just being sued.

ANDERSON: They are just being used. They haven't made any comments to say. So, we're not really sure kind of how this is going to be handled or how is it going to play out.

HOLMES: OK, look, all of this we talk about now. We got a lawsuit flying around. You hear this little detail now that can turn some people off. Can this still be a good idea for some people, a reverse mortgage?

ANDERSON: I mean, it depends on the situation. There are so many options out there for you. You know, I believe, once you put all this hard work and your equity in to house, reverse mortgage to me is not always the best way to do it. You can do an equity line. You can do an equity loan for that case. There are so many other things that you can if you really built this money in the home.

HOLMES: OK. It doesn't sound like you recommend these things?

ANDERSON: I don't. Yes, I don't. I mean, I have seen so many people get taken in the past. I've seen situation where people pay $20,000 in fees for reserve mortgage to get $1,800 out.

So, a lot of time, they are taking advantage of vulnerable senior citizens who they're really looking for something. You know, they have worked all their lives to put money into these homes. And now, they are in the situation where they're at the mercy and they have nothing to pass on to the next generation.

HOLMES: All right. Well, we appreciate you being here, certainly good to see you once again. For reverse mortgages, and we know they grew in popularity because of the tough times, people trying to get some kind of -- I guess some payments sometimes even. So, a steady flow of income, if you will.

ANDERSON: Exactly.

HOLMES: But that doesn't sound like a good idea.

Clyde, always good to see you.

ANDERSON: My pleasure. HOLMES: Good to be back. Good to be back. Thanks so much.

Well, coming up here in a moment, you've been watching the tournament? Of course, you have. It's been a wild one as always. The first weekend NCAA Tournament got buzzer beaters all over the place. They got a coach crying.

Is there crying in basketball? Seriously? I thought it was just the Miami Heat.

But some stunning upsets as well. We are going to talk hoops in just a moment.

Quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Twenty-four minutes past the hour now.

This is the holiday for a lot of people. This weekend is just a holiday weekend because of the NCAA Tournament started up. You probably filled in those brackets, even if you didn't watch college basketball throughout the year.

I want to bring in "Sports Illustrated" college basketball editor, Trisha Blackmar. She's on the line with me now.

Trisha, thank you for being here.

For anyone who missed the first two days, tell them what they missed. We had a lot of close games like we've never seen before.

TRISHA BLACKMAR, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (via telephone): Yes, it definitely was an exciting first few days. There were six double- digits seats that went through, the biggest upsets were probably out on the southwest region with Moorhead State beating Louisville. You know, that was just a great game. It's probably one of the greatest stories that we've seen so far.

HOLMES: Now, we see -- I mean, we always expect buzzer beaters during the year -- excuse me, during the NCAA Tournament. But this year, there weren't a lot of stand-out teams. And a lot of people thought that a lot of the teams were -- you know, kind of -- you know, just kind of closer together in talent and ability.

Are we seeing that play out right now with these close games? Anybody can beat anybody?

BLACKMAR: Well, I think that's definitely true when you have the exodus of players to the NBA, you know, the really talented players after just one year. It does even the playing field to some. So, I think it's a great opportunity for the teams that have been in the top rankings all year, you know, Ohio State, Kansas, Pitt, Notre Dame to really step out and show why they deserve to be the national champion and they have a perfect chance to do it right now. HOLMES: And right. And no doubt for you, Louisville is going out, number four seed and Georgetown being out. Those are two biggest surprises?

BLACKMAR: I would say so. I mean, but at the same time, they had -- you know, Pitino has said all season that Louisville is a bridge season. And it's a team that struggled with free throw shooting and rebounding. And those are two crucial things in the tournament.

And with Georgetown, with Chris Wright being out with his hand injury, you know, he came back yesterday's game. But the team wasn't the same without him and they just couldn't get I back together in time.

HOLMES: All right. Last thing quickly, have you figured out which channels the games are on? How was this working with truTV and TBS? I mean, it's our parent company here, Turner. So, we certainly appreciate it here.

BLACKMAR: Right.

HOLMES: But a lot of people were confused the first day or so.

BLACKMAR: Yes, you know, I just think people some time learn those new channels in their system. But I think it makes such a big difference that you can watch the game that you want to watch. And I think people are really responding to that. So, I think it's why the ratings are up so high. I think they're saying the best ratings in two decades.

HOLMES: Well, that's a good thing for us here, Turner.

BLACKMAR: Yes.

HOLMES: Trisha Blackmar, we appreciate you spending time with us. Thanks so much. Enjoy the games today.

Bring in my buddy, Reynolds Wolf, once again.

You filled out a bracket. I did not. I do not for reasons I can explain later.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: What is wrong with you? Why aren't you doing a bracket?

HOLMES: Because the one year I filled out the bracket, I didn't enjoy the tournament because I found myself rooting for my bracket and some poll versus rooting for Moorhead State to pull an upset. That's why I hated the tournament that year. I'll never do it again.

WOLF: Do you like ice cream? See? I think of the tournament is being like a big bowl of ice cream. And then we thought of bracket, it's just sprinkles, T.J. It's just sprinkles in the ice cream.

HOLMES: Everybody comes in. Now, they're upset, oh, my God, they lost. Everybody should be excited to see a Moorhead State go through.

WOLF: The bracket will make you kind of care more about a Moorhead State and say, man, my bracket worked out just find.

HOLMES: Not if you have Louisville in the Final Four. How is your bracket?

WOLF: Here it is, let's go right to the Final Four. I had Ohio State, still running, Gonzaga, still in there, Duke, went the whole thing. Also, Louisville. Louisville is --

HOLMES: See what I'm saying?

WOLF: Yes.

HOLMES: See what I mean? We have other bracket? A lot of CNN- ers out there, that you're up against, we have John King, Suzanne Malveaux filled one out, Ali Velshi, Kiran Chetry, Don Lemon, Brooke Baldwin -- everybody filled one of these out. So, who -- I guess, who is winning among our folks?

WOLF: Right now, I think it's -- if I'm not mistaken, I think it might be John King. But I'm trying to check out Wolf Blitzer because there's -- you have to mark your territory for Wolf, and with the super-moon coming up, it's kind of crazy.

HOLMES: All right.

WOLF: You need to do this.

HOLMES: I'm never going to do it.

WOLF: It's just sprinkles, T.J. Happy sprinkles.

HOLMES: Just sprinkles.

All right. Well, quick break. We're going to have Dr. Sanjay Gupta coming up right afterwards.