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Remember the roof of the southwest airlines plane split at about 36,000 feet yesterday. roughly 18.5 minutes after it had left the phoenix sky harbor international airport. it was en route to sacramento. now, once the decompression happened and the oxygen masks deployed the pilots then made a rapid descent from 36,000 feet to 11,000 feet in about four and a half minutes time. investigators say they have already discovered what they are calling preexisting fatigue or cracking around this particular area of the fuselage. but it would not have been visible to the naked eye. this as southwest main...

Think will start on tuesday about america's future. we have to get entitlement spending under control or we will never balance the budget. >> shannon: tuesday is when we get the budget looking forward from the gop side for 2012. we know you still have to iron out 2011. we thank you both for your time, congresswoman moore and congressman cole. let's check back in with casey stegall following all the latest on the southwest investigation after a hole opened up during the flight on a jet. he is in yuma, arizona, where a president conference just wrapped. hi, casey. >> reporter: we are learning mo...

Since 1958. take out a measuring tape and look at 17 inches to 18.5 inches. >> is that the airline's fault or our fault for getting fat? >> we're crammed into these coach seats like sardines. we look at it from the point of view, from passengers of size, it's just as uncomfortable for a fat passenger to be sitting next to somebody else. you know, what's funny is, we have a member out in los angeles, his name is marcus hopkins. you know, he asked the question during this whole fat tax debate, he's 6'2", weighs about 145 pounds. he wants to know -- he has a question for the airline, is he going ...

Government for evacuation and what is recommended by the japanese government, and how serious is this divide? >> reporter: well, it is very serious. we started getting indications of it early yesterday morning. from our national security sources. but, the penny dropped when the head of the nuclear regulatory commission said this on capitol hill. >> we believe there is no water on the spent fuel pool in unit number 4 and it is my great hope the information we have is not accurate and i hope for those -- another sake of everyone. >> reporter: the air force is beginning flights of their global ha...

The embassy and we're in the same place, right in front of me is where all the americans will be evacuated in a few hours, and, this is the first we are starting to hear of it. so, nobody here knows any of this. we are hearing from your feed. it is quite alarming. rick: let me ask you about the news, now, that high levels of radiation had been detected 18.5 -- 18.6 miles from the nuclear power plant and you are innocent die and for those of us not entirely familiar with the geography, how close are you? are you within the evacuation radius? and how do you feel about being so close to such pote...