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CNN Saturday Morning News

Defiant Gadhafi Warns World of Interference in Libyan War; Confirmed Radiation Contamination of Japan's Water, Milk, Food Supplies; President Obama in Brazil Touting Trade Policies; American Teacher Home from Japan; Japan's Emperor Urges Calm in Crisis; Red Flags That Will Get You Audited; Japan Disaster Hits U.S. Businesses, Especially Technology Sector

Aired March 19, 2011 - 08:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we've got more CNN for you right now, and we have some fast-moving developments in Libya this morning.

The picture you're seeing is of a fighter jet being shot down. This comes as pro-government forces now are pounding the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. This happens as a defiant Moammar Gadhafi warns the world that any interference comes with severe consequences.

And from Japan this morning, reports that a week's worth of radiation leaks from severely damaged reactors have now led to contaminated tap water, milk and food.

President Obama monitoring both global hot spots from Brazil this morning, the start of his Latin American tour. We will have a live report.

From the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING for March 19th. I'm T.J. Holmes. Good to be back with you on Saturday morning.

And on this Saturday, we need to start in Libya where there is heavy fighting. It's broken out again between opposition forces and those forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

This is the image we're getting this morning from Benghazi. This is that rebel stronghold in Eastern Libya. That's an opposition fighter jet going down in flames. More about this image in just a moment.

We are also seeing and hearing explosions in that city, government and opposition tanks squaring off against each other.

There's also a defiant tone coming out of the capital of Tripoli. A government spokesman read a letter from Gadhafi to President Obama and in it, he said he and his people are ready to die for their country.

CNN's Arwa Damon is in Benghazi where those shells have been landing in the streets. Earlier, she told U.S. about the offensive being launched by the government forces. Also, she talked about that image you saw of that plane going down in flames.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): It would seem as if Gadhafi's forces have definitely begun their air assault on the opposition stronghold over Benghazi, an assault that witnesses tell us began at the early morning hours of the morning here. They say that the fighting in the outskirts were fairly fierce.

At around 8:45, we saw a plane overhead appearing to be heading south. And around 9:10, one of our team witnessed a jet, a fighter jet, fall out of the sky in flames. We have since then spoken to an opposition fighter who told us that was one of their own aircraft that they were sending out to try to stop, bring a stop to Gadhafi's military assault on this very, very critical city. This is the heart of the opposition.

Since then, we have heard and seen artillery rounds. We also had a number of our team see Gadhafi's tanks moving into the southern part of the city, witnessing them firing inside the city as well. We have seen an attack helicopter flying low overhead. That we believe belongs to the opposition.

We have also seen a vessel around five kilometers off the coast moving north. We do not know if that is a Gadhafi vessel or one that the opposition has at their disposal.

This is very, very critical development here. This is the opposition's stronghold. This is a city they have vowed to protect. Especially disturbing for the opposition is the fact this is taking place right now in clear violations of that United Nations resolution that they have been waiting for -- a resolution that was meant to put into place a no-fly zone that states a cease-fire needs to occur immediately -- a resolution that is intended to protect the civilian population.

And now, the civilian population of Benghazi is under attack and we have yet to see any sort of foreign intervention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And again, that was our Arwa Damon reporting from Benghazi.

Our international senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is joining me now live from the capital of Tripoli.

Nic, good morning again.

You said you attended a news conference a short time ago. What was the message coming from Gadhafi's government? And you said it was a bit confusing of a message at times.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there was two parts to the message, it was divide and conquer.

One message to the United States that we can be your friend, telling President Obama that Moammar Gadhafi loves him and appealing to President Obama and saying, look, what would you do if al Qaeda was attacking you in your cities? How would you respond? You tell me what to do and I will do it.

Gadhafi also saying he and his people will die for the country and the message the Europeans in the U.N. was very stark and slightly different. It said that essentially that the international community will regret any attack on Libya.

But I think what has become very, very clear here now is in the statements in the letters and letters of the European Union and the United Nations, Gadhafi, Moammar Gadhafi says that the U.N. Security Council resolution is invalid.

And that seems to be a very clear aligning now with the facts we see on the ground that Gadhafi's army is moving into Benghazi. The government is effectively saying, what they've said before about accepting the resolution is null and void. The government is now on the offensive it appears now trying to create facts on the ground. Indeed, we've heard from one of Gadhafi's sons on state television saying that this is now a war, that this is a jihad and that all the people of Libya should join in fighting the infidel forces that are attacking the country.

So the gloves are coming off and the facts are becoming very clear, this government is pushing for effect on the ground despite the U.N. resolution -- T.J.

HOLMES: Our Nic Robertson for U.S. live this morning in Tripoli. Thank you so much Nic.

Meanwhile, there is a meeting happening in Paris this morning with world leaders including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a gathering some of her counterparts and other foreign leaders to talk about what to do next. What's the next step in Libya? We'll have updates from Paris where that meeting is taking place throughout the morning.

Now I want to return to Yemen where clashes in the capital have left dozens dead there. This started with fighting between anti- government protesters and government supporters. Witnesses say security forces then tried to intervene by firing into the crowd. At least 40 people killed, 100 injured.

The Yemenese president declared a state of emergency, that's Yemen's president that declared that. This is the same president that the anti-government demonstrators are calling for to step down.

Turn to Japan now where within the past 90 minutes, there was another earthquake there. This one a 5.9 magnitude quake. It was 44 miles south of Fukushima, that is where that damaged nuclear reactor -- that nuclear plant, where all that work is going on, that's where it's located, but the earthquake about 44 miles south of it. Officials say no damage at that Fukushima Daiichi plant from this latest quake. However, workers as you see from these pictures are pumping water into one of the reactors there. They are hoping to start powering the cooling systems for four reactors by the end of today.

A government official says water levels in three of those reactors have, in fact, stabilized, but the situation remains pretty unpredictable.

Abnormally high levels of radiation have also been detected in spinach and milk from the northeast region. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is putting out an alert, saying these are not high levels that necessarily would affect people. These are fairly low amounts. Still, it's more than you would want to see in your food or milk.

All this comes at a time that we're seeing the human toll go up. The count now of more than 7,000 dead and more than 11,000 missing. Country's defense minister also saying that 106,000 defense forces have rescued more than 19,000 people.

Radiation in the food supply, is that the next thing that people there in Japan need to be worrying about?

Our Brian Todd is with us in Tokyo.

Brian, hello to you.

Can you put this in some perspective for U.S., the radiation levels they are finding there in the food? Just how much is there and how much damage could it do to someone?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, to put it in perspective, T.J., what they're saying is that with the radiation levels that they found in the milk and spinach, that they are abnormally high, but not extremely high.

And one official said that at least with regard to the milk, it means that if you drank the milk consistently for a year, the milk that has been affected by this, it would be about the same amount of radiation as you would get in one CAT scan. The spinach, they didn't quite give that same ratio. But they're trying to put it in perspective saying that these are not -- while they may be abnormally high levels, they are not extremely high levels.

We've been pressing them. We pressed them just moments ago at a news conference. I asked one official, how can you be sure that other aspects of the food supply, the meat, the poultry, other sectors of the produce supply have not been affected by this? He said, well, we're monitoring it. We're testing it. We're investigating all of this.

And I asked, are you sure that a lot of this hasn't been shipped out because they do ship a lot of this produce to other places in the country. He said that they are -- they're not -- they're considering limiting the shipping but they are not at that point yet.

They are saying really they're downplaying the danger from this, T.J. So you really have to keep it in perspective. Again, but when Japanese officials down play something as we found out from the nuclear power plant situation, you've got to take it with a grain of salt. You've got to really be on them to press them on these things.

HOLMES: That's so scary for anyone, no matter how low the level might be just to hear of radiation in your food. That's going to have anybody on edge.

One last thing here to you. Another earthquake this morning, 5.9. Did you feel this one? How significant of the shaking happened? And any much damage reported from this latest one?

TODD: We did feel it, T.J. We were in Tokyo at this building, a fairly tall building getting ready for the news conference when we felt it. It shook for a good I'd say 30 to 35 seconds, pretty significant. We're all looking at each other saying boy, this is another big one. So it was very significant.

We felt it here in Tokyo And again, as I think you mentioned a moment ago, no reports of damage even though it was in Fukushima prefecture which is a fairly wide area. No reports of damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant right now. But again, really, this happened just a few minutes ago. They've got to be back on scene and checking everything, that plant obviously now in a very fragile state.

HOLMES: Yes, they certainly don't need to be going backwards at all, trying to make some very incremental, very small steps towards progress.

Brian Todd, we appreciate you this morning. Thanks so much.

And to our viewers, if you'd like to help out the victims, the Japanese quake and tsunami, you can log on to our website, CNN.com/impact. And it will help you navigate around and find out ways that you can help.

Well, after seven years of living in exile, he's back, Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jeanne (INAUDIBLE) Aristide's return to Port-au-Prince yesterday. This was just in time for Sunday's presidential elections.

Washington, D.C. expressed its concern over Aristide's return saying that his presence would provide to be a de-stabilizing presence. Aristide says he only wants to help his country recover from last year's earthquake.

Also, some sad news to pass along this morning. Funeral arrangements being made for former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher. He died overnight at his home in Los Angeles after a lengthy battle against cancer. He was 85 years old.

Well, as you know, there are so many survivors in need in Japan right now. We're going to be talking about the emotional toll this epic disaster is having on the Japanese people and how being prepared can save you and your family from disaster.

Also, a GM plant here in the U.S. feeling the effects of that crisis in Japan. We'll tell you why the plant has closed its doors for now.

It's 12 minutes past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, at 13 minutes past the hour, we are watching developing and breaking news on several fronts this morning.

Of course, keeping a close eye on what's happening in Japan right now as they continue to try to recover from that massive earthquake and tsunami and trying to avert a nuclear disaster at one of their nuclear power plants.

We're also keeping a close eye on Libya where opposition forces have come under attack in the rebel stronghold city of Benghazi, keeping a close eye on what's happening there.

We also are checking in with the president this morning. He has just started his three-nation Latin America tour. Our Ed Henry is on that trip with the president. We'll be checking in with him live.

Here's a picture of the president arriving a short time ago in Brazil. We'll tell you what's on his agenda coming up on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, we're at a quarter past the hour now on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

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

Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is traveling with the president. He joins U.S. on the phone right now.

Ed, good morning to you once again.

We know the president wants to talk a lot about trade and economies and jobs between the U.S. and Latin America, but will Libya also be on the agenda, as well? And do you expect any more statements from the president on Libya?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, I think it's very likely that we'll hear from the president at some point this weekend because as you know, it could be a little awkward for him to be on Brazilian soil talking about trade while a potential military action is starting involving the U.S. and some of its allies in Tripoli.

And so the bottom line is the president has a number of availabilities. He's going to have an event shortly in fact with President (INAUDIBLE), the first female president of Brazil. They're not going to take questions at that event, we're told, but potentially he could make a statement about Libya. Of course, he realizes no doubt this is at the top of everyone's mind right now as we watch these dramatic developments all around the world.

But I think he does also want to carve out some time to talk about trade and specifically how it impacts U.S. jobs that right now this is kind of a booming market in Brazil in particular.

Right now, in fact, 250,000 U.S. jobs are supported by exports from America being sold right here in Brazil. The president talked about that this morning in his weekly radio and Internet address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Part of the reason why is the rapid growth of Latin America and their openness to American business. We now export more than three times as much to Latin America as we do to China. And our exports to the region will soon support more than two million jobs here in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Well, T.J., our satellite is back up so you can see I'm live here in Brazil. And the president trying to make that case that the bottom line is this is a booming region right now and the U.S. cannot close that door. It's got to keep the markets open and make sure that we're pushing U.S. exports right here to Brazil. And then he's going to be going on to Chile and el Salvador as well, T.J.

HOLMES: Ed, I think many would agree that the U.S. has given up some ground to Latin America to the likes of China. But what does Brazil, what does Latin America expect now from this president because they have heard promises from presidents past and this one talking about a better relationship and that they won't be ignored, if you will, by the United States?

HENRY: Well, you're absolutely right. Right now what's going on is Brazilians are buying high-tech energy equipment from the U.S. There's talk about maybe some infrastructure deals between Brazil and the U.S. because let's not forget the World Cup is coming here to Brazil in 2014, then the Olympics in 2016, so they've got a lot going on.

And so, the president will be making some promises about working together (INAUDIBLE) We'll see, the T.J.

HOLMES: All right. We appreciate you there. I think your microphone just fell off. But we could hear you for the most part what you were saying there. You usually talk loud enough,

Ed. Ed Henry for U.S. in Brazil. We'll be checking in with you there, buddy. Thanks so much.

And ahead, we'll explore in Japan, the emotional impact of that crisis there. We'll also be passing along some tips that can actually help you and your family prepare for a disaster.

Again major developments happening there in Japan. We'll continue to update you throughout the morning.

It's 19 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty-two minutes past the hour now.

It was back in 1979 when America saw its worst nuclear accident in history at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. Yesterday, Japan's nuclear safety agency raised the crisis level from a four to a five. That's a level equal to the Three Mile Island disaster.

You can imagine, though, the Fukushima incident has become now a study in crisis management. There are a few things that have come into question so far. Japan has established a 12.4 mile evacuation zone. U.S. Officials recommended a 50-mile evacuation zone for American troops and citizens there.

Also, Japanese authorities have come under fire from the international atomic energy agency. The agency says Japan has not provided timely and detailed information on the disaster.

I want to bring in General Russel Honore now, no stranger to disaster management. He became a household name in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He's also the author of "Survival: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family From Disaster"; joining me this morning from New Orleans.

General, always good to have you.

Is Japan better equipped than most countries to deal with disaster?

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely, particularly when it deals with earthquake and tsunami. The difference here is that the infrastructure held up to the rocking and rolling, but the tsunami overmatched the infrastructure, T.J. and caused that water to push into -- inland some 10 kilometers.

HOLMES: What have you seen them doing right when it comes to the tsunami? It wiped out everything in its path and it seems like there's only so much you can do. But what have you been seeing on the ground?

HONORE: They've been very disciplined in getting their rescue teams out and going out and trying to do what they can to try to rescue people. And this thing is still in the rescue phase. At some point in time, they will have to switch from search and rescue to take care of the living.

And there have to be a balance there to get the people that survive and get them out of those schools and get them in some temporary housing, T.J. and the people to be able to communicate with them. That's going to be a big issue, tell them what's going on.

HOLMES: People have been talking about the stoicism of the Japanese people. How much has it helped do you think and can it help in disaster, when people, no matter how dire the situation are able to stay calm and orderly and respectful of each other?

HONORE: One must only admire the ability to do that. There will come a point in time when people, expectations will say where are we going to live right now and how are we going to get food for the long- term until the area get rebuilt? And that will be an issue of communicating with the people on a regular basis and how they going to set that structure up will be very key to how calm the people remain, T.J.

HOLMES: And General, something you've been pushing for years now is being prepared for disaster. Now, here in the United States, would you say more so the emphasis needs to be on individual awareness of making sure you and your family are prepared for disaster? Or do you see more efforts need to be made by governments in their disaster preparation?

HONORE: T.J., there's only so much government can do. We must all be prepared to be our own first responder. If you look at a city like you live in Atlanta, some five million people in and around. If you look globally around -- across the country, we've got about 30 million first responders. We've got about 310 million people in the country. So we need to be able to take care of our families and we need to take care of our neighbors, which means we need to have an emergency evacuation kit, three to five days worth of food, and a weather radio so we can stay informed. We call that being Red Cross ready, T.J.

HOLMES: I know you've been preaching that for a long time. Do you see any indication that we're starting to more so get the message?

HONORE: T.J., from the data I looked at, it's about 15 to 20 percent of U.S. have actually made some efforts to be prepared in our homes. Set aside food --

HOLMES: Sounds low.

HONORE: It is low. We're in a very active weather season now. Tornadoes, flooding in the Midwest is only weeks away and we're about 60 days away from hurricane season. I hope this is a wake-up call for the American people and we all take this time to get now our homes prepared.

HOLMES: General Russel Honore, we appreciate having you as always. It seems we do often have you when there's some disaster. But like you say, there's always time -- it's on top of peoples' minds and this is an opportunity now to get yourself ready.

General Honore, good to see you as always sir. You enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

Well, of course, we are on this story all day long for you. We know a lot of people out there hearing a lot about radiation exposure, the risk of it. Now we're hearing that it's in some of the food there in Japan.

We are going to try to talk and get through some of the myths and misinformation out there. We're going to be talking to Dr. Otis (INAUDIBLE). He's the chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society. He is going to be joining U.S. next hour to try to -- try to make sense of some of what we're seeing coming out of Japan when it comes to radiation risk.

It's 27 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, we're at the bottom of the hour here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Welcome back to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. I'm glad you could spend some time with us on this Saturday morning.

To give you a look at some of the stories making headlines.

First, Libya, and that is where heavy fighting has now broken out once again between opposition forces and forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. This video from Benghazi we've been showing you, this is in the east. That rebel stronghold. That's an opposition fighter jet going down in flames.

Also seeing and hearing explosions in the city and government and opposition tanks squaring-off against each other there.

Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton she's in Paris, her critical meetings about Libya; United Nations member nations trying to map out how to enforce the resolution calling for a cease-fire and a no-fly zone.

Also, there are some renewed nuclear worries in Japan this morning as workers scramble to contain further exposure from nuclear power plants that were damaged in last week's disaster. This morning, Japan's chief cabinet secretary revealing test results that show abnormally high levels of radiation in samples of spinach and milk from areas near that damaged power plant.

And we are at the scene this morning of one of the hardest-hit areas in Japan. Our Gary Tuchman joins us this morning.

Gary, good morning to you, explain to us exactly where you are and why this was an area that was just obliterated? GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J., behind me, a scene that is chaotically surreal. This is Kesennuma, Japan now harder hit town. We have video that when you see it, you still won't believe it. At least that's the way we felt when we got here. We got to a section of the town that hasn't been open to anybody to go into.

As a matter of fact, when we got there we weren't sure it was open to us either. There was no one down there doing any rescues doing any recovery. And we had to climb like it was a mountain climbing trip. And what we saw was just unbelievable, impenetrable; debris, cars, boats, houses, power lines, all forming a mountain that you couldn't get past.

And what's strange about the situation is you still see houses and buildings that are intact. If anyone is in the buildings, whether they're dead or alive there's no way to get to them.

We actually found some firemen from Tokyo who are here, and told them about a person we met who said the grandfather of family never got out of the second floor house and it appear the second floor existed.

But there was no way for the fireman to get around all the debris to get to that house to see if this man might still be alive. It's an incredible scenario something I've never seen in my career.

We've seen a lot of damage and many of the stories that I've covered over the past 25 years, but we've never seen a situation where we literally even with fireman couldn't get to the house where someone needs to be rescued.

I mean we see there cars and trees; we see cars on top of houses, we see cars upside down, we see cars vertical, we see cars in the river. It is just beyond belief the scene we see here.

In addition, we've had a number of aftershocks today. It's not unusual to have aftershocks a week after an earthquake. But the number of aftershocks is very unusual, the number of very large aftershocks.

Last night I counted seven in the overnight hours while we were asleep. That certainly increases the nerves of the people who live here in northeastern Japan where there's so much terror and trauma. The death toll keeps climbing. We expect it to climb for a long time. Because just to give you an example. We, while I was walking with my crew my producer and my photographer, we found a body ourselves in the current and called it to the attention to the fire officials -- T.J.

HOLMES: Oh Gary Tuchman giving us an idea of just the conditions there and what they have ahead. Gary, we appreciate you as always. Thanks so much.

I want to turn to -- to Reynolds Wolf here. He mentioned those aftershocks that we're seeing and we also seeing new earthquakes, we talked about -- REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A 5.9.

HOLMES: -- a 5.9.

WOLF: That's right.

HOLMES: But that was earlier, but that was a little ways away from where the original earthquake was a week ago.

WOLF: Very much so, very much so.

But you know what's interesting about this week, when you think about Japan, when you have these kinds of tremors, these aftershocks, these earthquakes; it really is a way of life there.

HOLMES: Yes.

WOLF: It truly is, but the thing is, there -- there's a little bit of a fear because I think a lot of people grow desensitized to it and then you have a mammoth one, a huge one.

HOLMES: And now everybody's on edge every time there's a little rattle --

WOLF: For single time.

HOLMES: And the weather playing a huge role in this. A lot of people have been outside out of their homes.

WOLF: Absolutely.

HOLMES: And it's been cold.

WOLF: No question. It's been very cold, it is winter time there, they haven't made that turn yet to springtime or obviously not summer. And we're seeing a little bit of cloud cover developing just to the west of the Sea of Japan over towards North and South Korea. All of that is going to sweep across the Sea of Japan.

You can expect some scattered showers in the low lying areas. In the highest elevations of Japan, we might see some snow, possibly some fresh snow up on Mt. Fuji also. But in terms of your temperatures, yes, it's going to be very chilly for people. In fact, if you take a look at the temperatures, your high temperatures, is we have them both in Fahrenheit and Celsius, mainly into the mid-40s if you go through Monday and Tuesday. The rain moves out, drier air will then move in from the West.

For Tuesday through Thursday, mainly some mid to upper 40s. But those night time lows are really going to hover right around the freezing point over the next couple of days. As T.J., mentioned, a lot of people are going to be taking shelter outside. Some people are still in tents because of the -- the weakened conditions, the shaking of the -- the buildings and what not. They're so -- they're going to try to stay in tents. Now in Japan and Tokyo, still, it's going to be tough for a lot of people, highs as we go from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Very close to Tokyo as we head up to Sendai. Still very cool, the showers sticking to about the start of the midweek and then night time lows, a little bit warmer above the freezing point.

But still, I don't care who you are. If you're outside and you had stay outside and its 38 degrees it's going to be chilly for you. It's certainly tough, for a lot of folks, especially the elderly and children -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, we appreciate the update. We'll be checking in with Reynolds plenty throughout the morning.

Also, an American teacher who survived that earthquake and tsunami in Japan has returned home but says, he's worried more so about the students that he left behind. Jacob Pouliot arrived in Boston yesterday after three days of travel. He was teaching English at a private school in Sendai when that earthquake hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB POULIOT, JAPAN QUAKE/TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: I have to imagine that some of them might not have made it through, because they come from the towns that were just wiped out. When I saw the news, some in Minamisoma were just completely gone. It's become like a home to me. Yes, I hope everybody's ok.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You hope to go back, you say?

POULIOT: Yes, I do. But I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now Pouliot says it was a nightmare trying to get to Tokyo to the airport there and try to find a flight out of the country.

Well, a lot of you all would like to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami there in Japan. Here is a way for you to do it. You can go to CNN.com/impact to reach our "Impact Your World" Web site. You'll find links to several charitable organizations where you can send or text even donations.

Well, Japan has the world's oldest monarchy and also has the world's only emperor. So why was last Wednesday the first time a sitting emperor ever addressed his people on national television?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, Japan's prime minister is calling this the worst crisis the country has been through since the Second World War. When that war ended, Japan's emperor spoke on the radio addressing the quote, "Common People" for what was very likely the first time.

A few days ago, though, because of the crisis happening now, Japan's present emperor made a televised speech to his people. That is something we may have never seen before. Right?

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Never seen.

HOLMES: Never seen; Nadia Bilchik here with this morning's "Passport". Why? Why was it's an important to do? This is something you really don't see --

(CROSS TALK)

BILCHIK: It's so important. Now Emperor Akihito, now the Japanese Chrysanthemum throne is the oldest monarchy in the world. He is the 125th emperor.

HOLMES: Wow.

BILCHIK: But he has the role of being the head of the Shinto religion. He is the high priest of the Shinto religion but he does not really have a role as such. It's a constitutional monarchy.

And the last time we actually heard an emperor speak was his father Hirohito in 1945 when he made a very painful speech to the Japanese people surrendering, even though they promised to fight to the death.

So since then -- and he also was forced to back time to give up divine status, because up until that point, the emperor of Japan was divine. So no longer divine but Emperor Hirohito (SIC) now comes out and makes a speech to the people talking about how deeply distressed he is.

HOLMES: The -- you know, he hasn't done this before. This is just something we don't see. And now we're seeing it during a time of crisis. Why -- I guess, what's the speculation? Why was it necessary, if you will?

BILCHIK: Because it so dire. And I think people wanted to show the world what incredible solidarity there was. It's interesting, though, when Akihito was the Crown Prince, he spoke about the royals of Japan being robots. And he always wanted to be closer to the Japanese people, but it didn't allow that.

You know, if you think about the Japanese monarchy, what we've heard, was the Emperorship of Chrysanthemum throne.

HOLMES: Yes.

BILCHIK: What we've heard is about his son and daughter-in-law who, by the way, will not be going to the royal wedding. But Crown Prince Narohito and Crown Princess Masako have had quite a difficult time, because she seems extremely depressed. We've also heard that she could not give birth to a son, so she has a daughter.

And finally, the third son has managed to have a son. So the only succession would be if there was a son. So that's what we heard up until this point about the Japanese emperor.

HOLMES: And the message we saw -- the televised message. Tell me more -- tell us more about what that message was --

(CROSS TALK)

BILCHIK: Well, I want to share some of what he said. And you know, we spoke earlier about the Shinto culture and the Buddhist religion --

(CROSS TALK)

HOLMES: Right.

BILCHIK: -- and it's really about how you deal with the crisis not the actual crisis. He said, "I truly hope the victims of this disaster never give up hope. Take care of themselves and live strong for tomorrow. Furthermore, I am deeply impressed to see people who have survived and are suffering from the biggest disaster, encourage themselves to live for tomorrow."

HOLMES: Wow. Wow. And I guess this probably shows just how significant of a disaster we are looking at if he does step out and make a televised address. That -- that's just one side --

(CROSS TALK)

BILCHIK: Now, there is concern given the nuclear threat that he is supposed to be seen above politics --

(CROSS TALK)

HOLMES: Right.

BILCHIK: -- and in a different realm. So, again, it shows how urgent the crisis is.

HOLMES: All right, Nadia Bilchik for us this morning. Nadia it's good to see you as always.

BILCHIK: Thank you.

HOLMES: Thanks so much.

Well, folks I guess you got a month now, less than a month, taxes are going to be due. How can you avoid an audit? Yes, an audit by the IRS. We've got the things you need to know that maybe could help you avoid that nasty little process.

And it's about a quarter to the top of the hour. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. About 13 minutes to the top of the hour now.

How scary are these words, "You're being audited." Just about everybody afraid of an IRS audit. You don't want this to happen. Well, guess what, there are some things you can do to decrease your odds of being audited. We've got five tips. On our "Take it to the Bank" segment this morning, financial and business consultant, Eric Amado, joins us live from Dallas. Good morning, Eric.

Good morning to you, my man. Good to see you once again. Just how many of us these days are being audited?

ERIC AMADO, FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS CONSULTANT: Good morning.

We're a very small percentage. Right now only about one percent of total tax returns are being audited by the IRS. And the only reason is because --

HOLMES: Oh, wait, that's it?

AMADO: That's it. That's it, between one percent to one-and-a- half percent and the main reason is because the IRS does not have the manpower or the resources to audit every single tax return. So the probability of you and I and most people viewing this audience -- viewing this show are being audited is very slim, but it could happen.

HOLMES: Ok. All right. They would like to audit more they just don't have the manpower to do it. All right then.

Well, nobody -- just how nasty of a process is that? Before we get to these five tips, just how traumatic of a process is it to go through an audit?

AMADO: I mean, it could be a pretty traumatic process. You know, anybody that gets a letter in the IRS -- from the IRS can be a bad thing. Even if you're getting a check it could be a bad thing.

But you don't want to panic. That's the first thing you don't want to do. You want to contact your CPA or your accountant to let them know you got a letter from the IRS. Of course, you also -- you want to make sure you read the IRS letter carefully because they're going to give you specific instructions on what you need to do to help them.

And then also, you want to make sure you get organized. Get organized, pull all your tax returns from the last couple of years and make sure you don't throw your letter in the trash can or throw it in a drawer because you can get penalized very well if you don't follow instructions.

HOLMES: Yes, people sometimes overlook some of that mail coming in. Kind of looked important but not really and just tossed to the side.

All right. Give me these five tips now, these areas that the IRS seems to be paying a lot of attention to lately.

AMADO: Well, actually, you know, failure to report all taxable income is a big thing. Of course, you know, claiming large charitable deductions, that's another thing; cash businesses, math errors and also taking higher than average deductions. But let's talk about a couple of these, for example.

HOLMES: Ok.

AMADO: Failure to report all taxable income. Whenever a taxpayer gets a 1099, a W-2, a bank statement, anything like that in the mail from a company, the IRS is going to receive the same thing. So it's important that you to send in all the information because they do a reconciliation process.

They'll say, you know what; this is what you sent in, this is what we got. There's a difference so they're going to send you a letter or contact you and it's going to give your tax return more attention.

Also claiming charitable deductions; you know, it's a hard time on everybody right now, and you want to give money to charitable contributions. But it's important that you don't embellish or make sure that you do the right thing.

So for example, if a person's making $50,000 a year, most likely they're not going to give $25,000 in charitable deductions, right?

HOLMES: Of course.

AMADO: And so if you do something like that, that could cause a red flag. I'm not saying you're going to get audited but it could cause a red flag. So these are just some of the things you want to make sure you do and look out for.

HOLMES: All right Eric. One last thing to you here quickly; are you better off doing your taxes on your own or taking them to a professional? Does one or the other get flagged more so? Will you avoid the audit more so if you do one or the other?

AMADO: You know, I get asked this question all the time. Not necessarily, millions of taxpayers every year do their own tax return. They use tax software, for example, Turbo Tax, they do a good job.

Now, the only thing I tell people is that if you start going outside your realm of understanding of tax law, you need to hire a CPA or EA to do your tax return for you. So don't try to wing it. If you need help, pay somebody who's professional and they can help you get through it.

HOLMES: That's some pretty good advice there. I'm not sitting here trying to pimp any company at all, but I don't know how anybody does their own taxes. That's complicated stuff.

All right. Eric Amado, good to see you this morning and some good advice.

AMADO: Thank you.

HOLMES: Those numbers might go up; those percentages later once they get more manpower in the IRS. So people need to be aware. Thanks so much. You enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

AMADO: You too. Thank you. Thank you very much.

HOLMES: Well, coming up here, there's a GM plant -- now, here in the U.S. that's feeling the effects of the crisis in Japan. We'll tell you why the plant has now had to close its doors, at least for now.

We're getting close to the top of the hour on this Saturday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Seven minutes until the top of the hour.

The Japan crisis is affecting workers there as well as here in the U.S. The disaster is forcing a gm plant in Louisiana to shut down, at least temporarily. The Shreveport assembly plant goes idle next week because of a shortage of parts from Japan.

The plant makes Chevrolet, Colorado, and the GMC Canyon pickup trucks. GM says it has enough vehicles to meet customer demand right now, however. Automaker says it will resume production as soon as possible.

The auto industry not the only one being affected by the crisis in Japan, the electronics business being affected, as well. So let's talk about this with our digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong.

Mario, my friend, good to see you again here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

MARIO ARMSTRONG, DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: Good to see you, T.J.

HOLMES: We talk about the electronic business, what kind of things are we talking about? Are we talking about the standard TVs, computers, everything?

ARMSTRONG: We're talking a lot. We're talking everything from these tablet devices to Smartphones, to computers, even the -- even cameras, television sets, tablets. I mean, it's a lot of consumer electronic devices that are impacted with what's going on in Japan.

Specifically, two main areas of concern is one is called the nand memory chip, that's n-a-n-d, for anyone that wants to Google it. These are memory chips that get inserted into tablets and Smartphones like the iPhone. And then LED lights; these are the little lights that are used for our computer screens as well as television screens. Those are the two biggest concerns right now.

HOLMES: All right. And Mario, you say it's having an impact. How significant at this point, of a problem are we having?

ARMSTRONG: Pretty significant. We're talking 40 percent of these semiconductors, of these small chips are manufactured in Japan at these plants that have been shut down, some have been completely destroyed.

And then we're talking 20 percent of all semiconductors are coming out of it. And you can see these are some of the semiconductors in the chips you see. You don't see these things, but these things are -- these are the brains in many cases of these phones and of these devices.

So these are things that you don't really get to see. But they are very critical components in the consumer electronic devices that we use. And we've seen now not only because the plants have been shut down, but every time there's an aftershock that's over five on the Richter scale, they shut down any operations that currently can run.

So it's a constant back and forth of when they can actually produce things and when they can't. And that's just not creating the supply to meet up with the demand.

HOLMES: Ok. Mario, supply and demand; can we naturally assume that somewhere down the road we're going to start paying more for this stuff?

ARMSTRONG: Yes, we can naturally make that assumption. Here's the key to this, the whole thing. It's really going to depend on how long we're going to see this infrastructure in Japan still be a problem. It's not just the plants, but even if they have stuff that could be shipped. They can't get it on the roads, can't get it to the port, they can't export it out.

So we're going to probably see -- I have a quote here from the Acer president, the president of Acer computers, Scott Lynn (ph). He says that the PC industry supply should remain intact for the next 2.5 to 3 months. But some companies are beginning to stock pile their inventories of these special memory chips and LCD panels which should cause some short-term price inflation.

So I would say within the next few months, we might start to finally see some impact. Best Buy and Wal-Mart and others are saying too early to tell right now, but I would suggest if you see something you like, you might want to go ahead and buy it now.

HOLMES: That was going to be my last question, though. So it sounds like that's the advice to consumers. If you see it, you might want to go ahead and buy it now and just not chance it. If you know you're going to buy that item anyway, you might want to go ahead and get it now.

ARMSTRONG: Great point. If you know you're -- if you're thinking about upgrading, if you're already thinking about making that decision, why wait? The inventory are still at the stores right now so they can meet that demand. You don't want to buy these devices if prices are going to go up, for sure.

This is probably the last thing many people are worried about right now. Obviously we're talking about people losing lives there and companies like Sony and Toshiba and others are more worried about their employees than they are about getting chips out. But at the same time, it's an unfortunate situation that can have an impact on our pockets.

HOLMES: All right. Mario Armstrong, good to see you this morning. Thanks so much.

ARMSTRONG: Good to see you.

HOLMES: You enjoy the rest of your Saturday, ok?

ARMSTRONG: You too, my friend.

HOLMES: Coming up, a Japanese man -- you can imagine where he was when the tsunami hit. He was in his car driving along the coast when a second, a killer wave hit. We will show you that video. He shot from the driver's seat. That's coming up.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, a special edition of "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" coming up in just about 30 minutes from now. Christine Romans has a preview.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE": T.J., what powers your family? It's natural gas, it's coal, it's also nuclear. We take a very close look at nuclear energy in this country. How much of it we use, whether it's clean, and whether there could be a resurgence of not in my backyard, again, amid plans for new power plants in this country.

We're also going to talk about how to prepare your family for a disaster and how to safely give money to charity to make sure it gets to Japan -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Thanks.