though, about the elderly volunteers. thanks, but no thanks. we have plenty of employees. the seniors, though, don t buy it. the government has already told a nuclear regulatory agency that it needs to come up with a system to boost the number of workers, implying they are concerned about a worker shortage. workers like this woman, a temp who once worked at the fukushima plant. nothing can make me go back to work there, he says. he calls the levels of radiation too dangerous. whether concerns of a worker shortage or the persuasive seniors, just this week, the same government point man who called the seniors a suicide corps appears to be less resistant to the idea of elderly volunteers. he now says translator: i met the leader of the group, and we have started a discussion, looking for any possible, practical next step. do you think that the government will let your group work at the plant? yeah, sure. reporter: one more chance,
a touching display of courage and sacrifice from seniors in japan. fully aware of the risks, they are lining up to work at the crippled and contaminated fukushima nuclear plant. we report from tokyo. reporter: in this cramped office, these seniors are leading the charge to get retirees back on the job, for one last and critical call. you want to do this. yeah. sure. why? i m the one of the eldest people. age he says, is a plus, when the work site is the crippled fukushima nuclear plant, a place still dangerous, highly contaminated with radiation after the tsunami caused a full meltdown in at least one of the reactors. these workers are the front line to control the national crisis. at high risk of exposure and long-term health impacts. the elderly, says this group, don t worry about much, anything
belong term. death becomes familiar, she says, we have a feeling death is waiting for us. not that i want to die, but we re not afraid of it. she s not the only one. 250 volunteers, all over the age of 60, are now compiled in this database. calling into the group, volunteering to work at the plant, a team calling themselves the skilled veterans corps, an idea that japan s point man to the nuclear crisis initially brushed off last week, saying, quote, our principle is we should stick to procedures that would not require such a suicide corps. a label these seniors reject, saying they prefer doing what s right. my generation, the old generation, promoted the nuclear plants. if we don t take responsibility, who will? we called tepco at their tokyo headquarters. they would not speak to cnn on camera. a spokesperson had this to say,
phone companies are going to doed? how do they respond to this? is there a way they can manufacture a safer phone? right. we re seeking a response from the ctia, the industry group. and i think what could happen is that people like the fcc or other groups like that, in other countries, might say, hmmm, this is important what the w.h.o. is saying, and so maybe we ought to tell cell phone companies to make phones with lower radiation. that s a possibility. they may tell cell phone companies, go back to the drawing board, come up with a phone that emits less radiation. so bottom line for those watching and who have wondered about whether or not this causes cancer, it s all about keeping it away from your head. right. the w.h.o. says possibly, so experts i ve talked to say why in the world would you take the risk, keep it away from your head by using some kind of an ear piece. all right. elizabeth, thank you so much. something a lot of people have been asking and wondering. and cle
taking on islamic militants who have overrun a coastal town. it s a case eerily similar to the one against former imf chief dominique strauss-kahn. an egyptian businessman could be arraigned in new york today, charged with sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper. 74-year-old mahmoud abdel salam omar is accused of groping a maid at the pierre luxury hotel. she says she went to the room at omar s request to drop off tissues. call it a bin laden bounce. strong performances on national security and international relations are driving president obama s overall poll numbers even higher. a new cnn opinion research survey finds that 54% approve of the job he is doing. that is up six percentage points since early april. when are you planning to announce you ll run for president? what do you think the odds are you ll run? are you going to run? that is the question. there is no public schedule, but sarah palin s bus tour seems to be headed for philadelphia today. now palin v