Nuke Meltdown May Have Occurred; Bahrain Protests Turn Violent; New Jersey Flood Evacuees Long for Home; One Teen Shot to Death, Four Wounded; Iodine Tables for Survivors; Confirmed Death Toll Nears 1,600
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A look at our top stories right now. Japanese officials saying it's possible a minor meltdown was already happening at a nuclear plant in northeast Japan. Monitors detected what may have been the melting of a fuel rod of a plant, but they say there's no sign of dangerous radiation levels in the area. And in just a few minutes we'll talk with an expert on nuclear plant. And in the wake of last week's earthquake and tsunami 1.3 million Japanese households are still without power today. Japan's prime minister says that to prevent a massive power outage, the Japanese people will have to endure rolling blackouts.</s>NAOTO KAN, JAPAN PRIME MINISTER (through translation): We could fall into power outage in a wide area and sudden power failure could devastate the lives of people as well as to the industrial activities and this is something that we must avoid.</s>WHITFIELD: In Bahrain, more violent anti-government protests. Police fired tear gas at one of several demonstrations in the kingdom's capital. In another protest, several people were hurt at Bahrain University when supporters of the royal family faced off with student protesters. Bahrain's government denies that any unjustified force was used against the protesters. And back in this country, the National Transportation Safety Board today the scene of a deadly bus crash in New York. The tour bus was on its way back from a casino trip in Connecticut when it lost control yesterday and slammed into a thick pole. The pole sliced the bus nearly in half killing 14 people. And no let up yet in flooding problems in northern New Jersey. Days of heavy rains have soaked the state. About 2,000 homes have been evacuated and storm weary evacuees in temporary shelters say they want to go home. But power remains out in most of the flooded areas and roads are still not safe. Police are searching for a suspect who opened fire on a teen party at a New Orleans restaurant. An 18-year-old died at the scene, four other teens were wounded. The motive for the shooting is still unclear. Back to our coverage of Japan now. Two nuclear plants have released radiation beyond normal levels since the earthquake and tsunami hit. And at least 160 people are being tested for radiation exposure. And the Japanese government is preparing to distribute iodine tablets to its residents. We asked Dr. Bill Lloyd about that.</s>DR. BILL LLOYD, SURGEON: It's the dust that you can touch or that you can eat or that you can drink that's going to allow that radioactive iodine to get inside your body and put that thyroid at risk. Taking the potassium iodide before the exposure or as soon thereafter, all right, will protect that thyroid from getting cancer.</s>WHITFIELD: OK, so you can take it even after exposure. What would be the window of opportunity?</s>LLOYD: You only have to take it once and it will work for 24 hours. The important point about the 24 hours is radioactive contamination dissipates relatively quickly. So the threat passes very quickly and as long as you take - again, within 24 hours, you're going to get the benefit of radioactive iodine.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, thanks to Dr. Bill Lloyd. Now to James Walsh, a CNN contributor and international security expert. Good to see you again, Jim. OK, so there was that crucial 24-hour window for any of those 160 plus that may have exposed, but we're way passed the 24-hour mark. So if you have not gotten that iodine pill, how concerned are you that there are a lot of people walking around that destruction zone that are not being treated?</s>JAMES WALSH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I don't think this is going to be a big issue now because a couple of things. One, the event that some vapor that was - not very radioactive and what they found is just trace elements of a radioactive iodine and cesium to air samples. The concern here is that if you had a major breach of the reactor and the containment vessel then you would get a high volume of iodine and cesium dispersed into the atmosphere covering - going into the ground water covering plants, vegetation and homes and then that's when they would pick it up. So I think this is primarily a precautionary measure rather than trying to treat something after the fact. I think there's been very little exposure - you know, just because people test for radioactivity doesn't meant that suddenly they're going to get cancer. We are exposed to radioactivity every day of the year and so a lot of it has to do with the type of radiation you're exposed to, how much you're exposed to and over what period of time.</s>WHITFIELD: So is your feeling that the dust that may have traveled from that plume in this file tape that we keep seeing of that explosion that took place Saturday morning. Are you saying that there's not likely to be a continued leak coming from that facility?</s>WALSH: That's right, Fredricka. So most of what you saw from that plume was not radioactive material from inside the plant, but rather, you know, you would see if you saw any conventional explosion, the dust of the concrete and the metal being blown up. That's what most of that was to the extent that there's radioactivity that's been dispersed it's because it has leaked out from the plant itself. You get some normal leakage anyway and because some of the fuel elements that probably started to melt. That partial meltdown we've been talking about all afternoon, but that's largely separate from what we saw visually as we're looking at it now on screen. That's likely separate from the issue of radioactivity in the area right now.</s>WHITFIELD: Why do you think there had been so many conflicting reports coming the government or coming from the utility, engineers and officials there within Japan about how serious or severe any leak or melting of fuel rods, et cetera, has taken place.</s>WALSH: Yes, I think there are a couple of reasons for this. One is - not everyone has the same information. You know, the government will have one set of information. The utility may have another. Moreover, you have different parts of the government, right? Some parts of the government are in charge of safety and their mind is focused on safety or environment concerns. Other parts of the government are more about regulating the nuclear industry and that's not where their primary concern is. It's also a fast moving event. I mean, you know, they've suffered a tsunami. They've suffered an earthquake. There's dislocation and cell phones are out. So there's a whole communications problem. I also think on top of all those other factors, Fredricka, there is a tendency for top level government officials to fear that people are going to panic. I think by the way that's misplaced the evidence shows that people do not panic under these circumstances, but there's a fear about saying things that might be scary and causing people to panic. So often, people downplay issues, you know, try to not worry the public when I think really what they ought to do is be as forthcoming as possible, to maintain credibility. They need that credibility as we go forward to deal with the issues coming down the road.</s>WHITFIELD: So there are about a half dozen other reactors in that general facility. How concerned about them are you as a result of this 8.9 tremor or earthquake with tremors that reached as far as 200 miles?</s>WALSH: Yes, well, I am concerned. I'm concerned because we started out with the unit one and it became unit two and then there was a report it was later retracted from the international atomic energy agency that two plants at a separate, but nearby facility had lost their cooling system and that is scary because, again this is all about cooling. This is all about keeping the plants cool and so the pressure doesn't build up and they don't burn off the water and expose the fuel rod. I was concerned about that. Now there is a third plant area that has -- is supporting somewhat increased radioactivity level. Again, I think this stuff in principle should be manageable but every day seems to bring a new story and you worry about whether -- these guys working 24/7, you know, under emergency circumstances in a tsunami, in an earthquake, you wonder about how much that organization can take when it is one new thing after another. Finally, Frederica, as if that wasn't enough, all we have done is focus on the reactors. There are other facilities. There's the whole issue of the waste, the deadly waste that the flames produce and storage of that waste and the other reactors.</s>WHITFIELD: A lot to consider.</s>WALSH: A lot.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, maybe there will be some reinforcements that come in from other portions of the country, more southern regions that were untouched by that expertise or perhaps even that's where the international assistance comes in another way to help out with those nuclear reactors, and others a facilities. Jim Walsh, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Thanks for being with me all day today, in fact.</s>WALSH: Thank you, Frederica, my pleasure.</s>WHITFIELD: Thank you. All right, meantime, more on all that transpired from that tsunami and earthquake. A 60-year-old Japanese man actually survived the tsunami by clinging to it a piece of rooftop. He was a drift at sea for two days. There's a picture of him right there and the man and his wife fled their house during the earthquake. They had returned to get some belongings when in an instant that tsunami hit. His wife unfortunately was swept away. A Japanese maritime defense vessel rescued the man after they spotted his homemade red flag. Hope of finding other survivors that hope is dwindling as rescue missions turn into recovery missions now. The police chief in Miyagi Prefecture predicts that the death toll there alone will reach the tens of thousands and that's where we find CNN's Anna Coren.</s>ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have just arrived on the outskirts Ishinomaki, which is about an hour north of Sendai. We teamed up with the Japanese military and they are going through this neighbor today see if they can find any survivors. (voice-over): But it quickly became apparent this wasn't a search and rescue operation. They were here to recover bodies. This neighborhood just 500 meters from the coast caught the full force of the devastating tsunami. Every single home was damaged by the 10-meter wall of water, most beyond repair. This man scrambled on top of his house, holding onto the roof for dear life. (on camera): You are very lucky to be alive.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm lucky, very lucky.</s>COREN (voice-over): There was less than 30 minutes between the quake hitting and the monster wave devouring the coast. (on camera): This is your house? (voice-over): This man managed to drive out just in time, but his says his neighbors weren't so lucky. (on camera): This is a scene of complete and utter devastation, the power of the tsunami, it just speaks for itself. The wall of water that roared through here within seconds collected everything in its path. And from the rescue workers that we have spoken to, the bodies that they are retrieving are those of the elderly people who could not get out in time. Now, for the survivors who are returning to see what is left of their home, when you stand here and witness the devastation, you have to wonder where these people start to rebuild their lives. Anna Coren, CNN, Japan.</s>WHITFIELD: Next, what you can do to help displaced children in Japan.