U.N. Security Council to Vote About No-Fly Zone
VELSHI: Two diplomats say the United Nations Security Council will vote today on whether to issue a no-fly zone over Libya. As the U.N. considers what to do, Moammar Gadhafi's forces are fighting their way east toward the rebel strong hold of Benghazi. State TV reported today they have captured the city of Ajdabiya, which is on the road to Benghazi. But CNN crews in the area say that doesn't appear to be the case. In Benghazi, pro-rebel protesters question why the U.N. hasn't imposed a no-fly zone. Just today, there were air strikes on Benghazi's airport. Wolf Blitzer is on the road with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who is touring north Africa. He's live for us now in Tunisia, that small Arab nation that started the role of recent protests. Wolf, America had very little to do with what happened in Tunisia to start this all off. How is America and its representative Secretary Clinton being received in Tunisia? OK. I think we just lost Wolf. We're going to try and reconnect with him in a few minutes. He's in Tunisia. I think he's there now. Wolf, you got me?</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER": Yes, I hear you, Ali. We disconnected for a second.</s>VELSHI: I don't know if you heard my question, but, you know, the U.S. had nothing to do with what happened in Tunisia. How are the Tunisians receiving Hillary Clinton?</s>BLITZER: She was very well received here in Tunisia. She just wrapped up at the televised town hall meeting and she was very, very well received. The Tunisians are happy with the way things are unfolding right now. They got rid of their strong man, Ben Ali, they've got a lot of work to do here in Tunisia, but slowly but surely seems to be moving in the right direction. It looks like they're in better shape here than what is going on in Egypt. I was there yesterday and the day before. They've got a lot of work to do in Egypt to get a real Democratic government in place. But in Tunisia, things are moving in the right direction and it looks like Hillary Clinton had a pretty successful day here. She met with all the top leaders and met with rank and file types, including some of the bloggers who were very instrumental in getting this going.</s>VELSHI: Wolf, there are serious things going on in the country just to the east of you in Libya. There are still a lot of questions as you pointed out in Egypt, and there are more developments -- troubling developments in Bahrain. All of this, though, has been swept aside in the news by things going on in Japan. The Secretary of State told you some of her feelings about Japan. What did she say?</s>BLITZER: You know, she's really, really concerned and it's weighing very heavily on her. She's worried, obviously, about American officials, American diplomats, business people, military personnel. I had a chance to discuss it with her earlier in the day here. Let me play a little clip for our viewers.</s>BLITZER: Tell us what the latest is. We're deeply concerned about Americans in Japan right now.</s>HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, as you know, the president has authorized the departure of Americans and that's the decision that was made based on all the evidence that we had before the day ended in Washington yesterday. But there will be a continuing evaluation. This is, as I told you, literally a minute by minute analysis and we're doing everything we can to support the Japanese and their heroic efforts in dealing with this unfolding disaster.</s>BLITZER: This must weigh heavily on you. Even on a trip like this.</s>CLINTON: Well, it does, Wolf. I mean, this a very serious problem with widespread ramifications. First and foremost, we want to help the Japanese, our great ally, deal with this and limit the damage to the health and safety of the Japanese people. But our primary responsibility, always, is to the health and safety of Americans. And so we are working toward both of those goals.</s>BLITZER: And she made it clear, Ali, that, you know, as they try to figure out what's going on in Japan, that, you know, a lot of American diplomats and their family members, their dependents, if they want to leave then the president of the United States has now authorized their departure. It's going to be a voluntary-type thing. But, they're monitoring it on a day to day basis. They want to make sure that people don't suffer long-term illnesses as a result of potential radiation poisoning.</s>VELSHI: Wolf, are you doing your show from Tunisia tonight?</s>BLITZER: Candy Crowley is doing "THE SITUATION ROOM " tonight. I'll be -- I'm getting -- driving over to the airport right now. We're flying back to Andrews Air Force base tonight</s>VELSHI: All right. Very good, Wolf. Good to talk to you and we'll see you back stateside. Wolf Blitzer, on his way back from Tunisia, from his tour with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The "New York Times" is still trying to figure out the whereabouts of four missing journalists covering the conflict in Libya. Editors say they have not heard from Anthony Shadid, Tyler Hicks, Stephen Farrell and Lynsey Addario since Tuesday morning Eastern Time. They'd been reporting from the eastern city of Ajdabiya. The paper's executive editor says they've been in contact with the Libyan government and were assured that the four would be released promptly if they had been captured. There's speculation they were detained at a government check point, but the "Times" hasn't confirmed that. Last November, Lynsey Addario, who's also a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo journalist did her first TV interview with me. We talked about the plight of women Afghanistan and showcased some of her work. Here it is.</s>VELSHI: Lynsey, you've been covering this since 2000 in Afghanistan. How will real change come to this country given what you've just told me?</s>LYNSEY ADDARIO, NEW YORK TIMES PHOTO JOURNALIST: I think the only way that change can come to Afghanistan is from the Afghans themselves. And from men in Afghanistan. It's the men who enable their women to go and get educated. It's the men who let the women leave the house. I mean, this is a country where women have to ask permission to leave the house. The this is something that for westerners, we have no thought of that principle, that a woman actually has to ask permission to leave the house.</s>VELSHI: Lynsey is a remarkable journalist and a friend of our show. We continue to pray and hope for her release or at least to hear from her very shortly. We hope we will. Just ahead in our next hour, Lynsey Addario's husband will join me live. Plus we'll look at whether the four missing journalists are possible game changers in the U.S. getting involved in the Libyan conflict. Well, Japan's nuclear crisis and last year's Gulf oil spill raise the stakes in the search for alternative energy sources. Today's Big I is all about generating power by tapping into the earth's geothermal energy. Could this be a cheaper and safer and better way to heat your house and to cool it? I'll tell you about that, coming up next.