AC360 Preview: Eman al-Obeidy speaks
Editor's note: Watch more of Anderson's interview with Eman al-Obeidy Monday night on AC360° beginning at 10pm ET
Libyan Woman Speaks Out, Risks Her Life: Join the Live Chat
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Breaking news: Eman al-Obeidy, the Libyan woman whose allegations of abuse at the hands of Gadhafi's forces got her arrested and dragged off in front of the world's media, is speaking out. Plus, word that Gadhafi is tossing around the idea of his son, Saif, taking control of the country. And the latest on Japan's nuclear crisis.
Want more details on what we're covering? Read EVENING BUZZ
Scroll down to join the live chat during the program. It's your chance to share your thoughts on tonight's headlines. Keep in mind, you have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules.
Here are some of them:
1) Keep it short (we don't have time to read a "book")
2) Don't write in ALL CAPS (there's no need to yell)
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5) Watch your language (keep it G-rated; PG at worst - and that includes $#&*)
Evening Buzz: Alleged Libyan Rape Victim Speaks Out
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Maureen Miller
AC360° Writer
The Libyan woman who said she was raped by pro-Gadafi forces is talking to AC360°. Tonight you'll hear from Eman al-Obeidy, a remarkably brave woman.
The world got to know al-Obeidy on March 26 when she burst into a Tripoli hotel full of foreign journalists and told them she was gang raped and tormented by Gadhafi forces. Her emotional story led to a tense showdown. The journalists tried to get her story, while hotel workers revealed they were government agents and verbally assaulted her and other government officials eventually dragged her away.
Tonight she shares what she's faced these past 10 days. It's a frightening story and one we feel must be told.
She has a message for the United States and the rest of the world about her country.
"We are a peaceful people. And we are not members of al Qaeda. We are simple people and moderate Muslims," al-Obeidy told Anderson by telephone.
"We are not asking for anything, but our freedom and our dignity," she added.
The Libyan government has twiced claimed al-Obeidy was released to her family. Twice the family said they were lying. We're Keeping Them Honest.
We're also following developments on the battle for control of Libya. The envoy sent by Gadhafi to Britain is peddling the idea that one of the embattled leader's sons could become his successor, a source close to the talks tells CNN.
Under the proposal, Saif al-Islam, 38, would take control of Libya, the source said.
We'll talk it over with CNN's Nic Robertson in Tripoli.
We'll also update you on Japan's nuclear crisis. Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are dumping about 11,500 tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean in an effort to stop a leak.
A Japanese government official called the move "unavoidable."
11,500 tons is about 3 million gallons of water.
We'll get details on this effort from Michael Friedlander, a former senior nuclear power plant operator.
We also have an update on that dog that was found alive on Friday in rubble floating at sea for three weeks.
Join us for these stories and much more starting at 10 p.m. ET.
Source: Libyan envoy testing waters for takeover by Gadhafi's son
Nic Robertson
CNN Senior International Correspondent
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) - The envoy sent by Moammar Gadhafi to the West is testing foreign governments' willingness to accept one of the embattled Libyan leader's sons as his successor, a source close to the Libyan leadership told CNN Monday.
Under the proposal, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, 38, would take over from his father and help to usher in swift reform, the source said.
Beat 360° 4/4/11
Ready for today's Beat 360°? Everyday we post a picture you provide the caption and our staff will join in too. Tune in tonight at 10pm to see if you are our favorite! Here is the 'Beat 360°' pic:
Singers Steven Tyler and Carrie Underwood perform during the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena April 3, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Update: Beat 360° Winners:
Staff
Tom Foreman
"An otherwise flawless duet was spoiled at the CMA’s when Steven Tyler repeatedly exhorted the crowd to 'Give it up for Stevie Nicks!'"
Viewer
Jeff Grandview, MO
"Walk which way? Just gimme a WHAT?!"
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Text 360°: The nuclear situation in Japan
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AC360°
Tonight on AC360°, an update on the latest from Japan and a discussion with Michael Friedlander and CNN's Kyung Lah in Tokyo.
Related: Workers struggle to plug leak at Japan nuclear plant
Send us a text message with your question for Friedlander and/or Lah about how the clean up of the troubled nuclear plant is being handled. Please include your name and where you live. Text AC360 (or 22360), and you might hear it on air!
Alleged Libyan rape victim no longer in government custody
CNN Wire Staff
Editor's note: Watch an interview with Eman al-Obeidy, the woman who claims she was raped by forces loyal to Libyan leader Gadhafi, on "AC360", tonight at 10 p.m. ET.
(CNN) - Eman al-Obeidy, the woman who said she was raped by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, spent 72 hours under interrogation after being dragged away from the Tripoli hotel where she tried to tell journalists of her alleged abuse, she told CNN by telephone Monday.
Interrogators poured water on her face and threw food at her during the relentless questioning, which ended only after she was examined by a doctor to prove she had been raped, she told CNN's "AC360."
"And when the test came it verified that I was raped and tortured, and then I was freed," she said, speaking by telephone through a translator.
Al-Obeidy said that in contrast with the brutality she endured at the hands of Gadhafi loyalists, her treatment after being taken from the hotel was more abusive psychologically than it was physically.
But she said the public statements from a state TV anchor and government officials, who initially called her mentally ill, drunk and a prostitute, have ruined her reputation.
Al-Obeidy said people laugh at her now and that her spirits and morale are low. She said she has nightmares.
"They did not give me a chance to respond," she said.
Dog rescued after quake going back to its owner
(CNN) - A dog rescued off the Japanese coast floating on top of a house is on her way back to her owner Monday.
The dog wagged its tail and jumped up to a woman described by local media as a relative of the owner as she collected her to deliver back to her family for what promises to be a warm reunion.
It turns out the lucky dog's name is "Ban," and she was originally living in Kessenuma before being separated from her master after the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent fire that swept through the coastal village.
It's not clear how the 2-year-old mixed breed Ban and her master were separated, but Kessenuma is located in Miyagi prefecture, which was virtually wiped out by the disaster three weeks ago.
An employee at the Miyagi Animal Care Center told CNN by phone that the owner had been staying in a temporary relocation center in Sendai since being evacuated from Kessenuma.
Workers struggle to plug leak at Japan nuclear plant
CNN Wire Staff
Tokyo (CNN) - A first attempt to plug a cracked concrete shaft that is leaking highly radioactive water into the ocean off Japan failed Saturday, so officials are now exploring alternatives, spokesmen for Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.
Power plant workers had been trying to fill the shaft with fresh concrete, but that did not change the amount of water coming out of the crack, the spokesmen said at a news conference that ran late into the night Saturday.
Their "plan B" is to use polymers to stop the leak, the spokesmen said. A Tokyo Electric expert will visit the site Sunday morning and decide what polymer to use before the work begins.
Workers will then break the shaft's ceiling and insert the polymer in a different spot from where they tried to place the concrete, they said.
Water from the 2-meter-deep, concrete-lined basin has been seen escaping into the ocean through a roughly 20-centimeter (8-inch) crack, the company said earlier Saturday. The shaft lies behind the turbine plant of the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was heavily damaged in the earthquake and resulting tsunami last month.
Radiation levels in the shaft have been measured at more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour, which is more than 330 times the dose an average resident of an industrialized country naturally receives in a year. Radioactivity above the shaft was measured at 250 millisieverts per hour, said Tokyo Electric, the plant's owner.
Tokyo Electric said it is discussing other methods to use should the polymer fail, but it hasn't identified what those other methods may be.
The discovery of the leak comes after a feverish effort in recent days to explain a sharp spike in contamination in seawater measured just off the plant. Tokyo Electric said the shaft lies next to the water intake for the plant's steam condenser, at the end of a long channel that has been filling with radioactive water for several days.
Letters to the President: #805 'Spring fever'
Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Reporter's Note: Spring has slowly descended on DC, just as my daily letter descends upon the Oval Office.
Dear Mr. President,
Well, I took a week off not long ago and I totally feel as if I could use another one immediately. Maybe it’s just this draggy, gray spring, or the lingering effects of winter, but I could really do with some beach time, and that’s saying something because I’m not much of a sand-and-surf sort. The paleness of my legs is a hand-engraved invitation to sunburn unlike anything you’ve ever seen. I was once golfing in shorts and the wife of a co-worker who lived near the course came out to yell across the fairway, “Those are the whitest legs ever!” Yes, it was a proud moment for my Irish and German ancestors.
Oddly enough, I really like the outdoors most when conditions are unpleasant. I’ve read several biographies of Theodore Roosevelt and I very much share his passion for simply being outside on a regular basis, and frankly it just makes me feel more outdoorsy when the weather is lousy. My wife sometimes thinks I’m crazy for that. (And for other things too, but let’s not go there.) One time in upstate New York, a cold rain was steadily falling all day and I took both of our daughters out into the woods nearby to show them how to build a lean-to.
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Post by: Filed under: Letters to the President • Opinion • President Barack Obama |
