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CNN Live At Daybreak
Tsunami Disaster; Osama Bin Laden Terror Tape; Travel Glitches Stranded Thousands in Airports; Could Tsunamis Happen Here?
Aired December 28, 2004 - 06:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to take people to Phuket, Thailand, now and CNN's Aneesh Raman for more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The death toll in southern Thailand is now reaching above 1,000 here on Phuket Island, more than 200 confirmed dead. Officials say this is to be expected, given the vast numbers of people that were drawn to the ocean after those initial waves rocked this shore.
Bodies have been washing ashore now for more than a day. And the boats that are encircling the island looking for survivors are also collecting those that simply did not make it.
The Thai government is really dealing with dual challenges right now. On one level, there are numbers of tourists, many of whom are injured who are desperate to get home. Others that need expert medical help in Bangkok. So, the Thai government is trying to be as accommodating to those who are now dealing with such horrific tragedy in a foreign land.
At the other level, the Thai government is trying to reach out to the nationals of this country, who in many cases are starting over, their homes completely gone. For those who worked in the tourist industries on Phuket or Phi Phi Island, they have to start over economically as well. Their shops have been gutted. And it really is from these three months of work that they fund themselves for the year. So, for them, it's unclear what comes next.
Throughout the day, more rescue and relief efforts will continue, and as the Thai prime minister has suggested, that death toll is likely to continue to rise.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Phuket, southern Thailand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And you can head to CNN.com for even more news on the devastation in Asia. There, you can find a special report on the threat of disease now facing the survivors. That, plus updates throughout the day all on CNN.com.
Talking about relief getting over there to Asia, Colin Powell says the United States is sending financial assistance to help the tsunami victims. The secretary of state will be a guest on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
Rick Sanchez now joins us with more.
There is some controversy about this, because some say what he's sending -- what the United States is not enough.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there has been a conversation about that going on now for several weeks. Some saying that the percentage that the United States has been giving in aid, not just in this case, but in other cases in the past isn't really comparable to some of the other developed nations in the world, places like Sweden for example. So, expect to hear a lot about that.
We're going to be having a conversation, as you mentioned, with Secretary of State Colin Powell Carol. And we're going to be talking about those specific numbers as well. I mean, right now we're hearing numbers of $15 million for tsunami relief.
Also, a lot of Americans anxiously are waiting for word about loved ones. We're going to talk to one particular community in southern California, where there are thousands and thousands of families that have been going to temples, trying to find out what they can possibly do.
And one particular relief organization out there that's helping them do that, trying to kind of put it all together to find a way to help the folks out there.
So, really a lot going on as we continue to cover this tsunami story here on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
Carol -- back over to you.
COSTELLO: All right, we'll see you in a half-hour. Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right.
COSTELLO: In our "Security Watch" this morning, a message to the Iraqi people and it's apparently from the world's most-wanted terrorist. The CIA says an audiotape, aired on the Arabic network Al- Jazeera, appears to contain the voice of Osama bin Laden. The speaker urges Iraqis to boycott next month's elections and praises the terror campaign of wanted militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Here's a translated excerpt for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We ask God to accept this unity and bless it, and for all to know the dear mujahed brother, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is the prince of al Qaeda in Iraq. So we ask all our organization's brethren to listen to him and obey him in his good deeds.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: So, twice this month we have heard from Osama bin Laden. The last time anyone outside of his inner circle actually saw him was in November of 2002. He was escaping to Tora Bora. And then he seemingly vanished.
The end of another year is approaching, so we thought we'd examine why bin Laden continues to be so elusive.
Terror expert Peter Bergen is live in Washington this morning.
Good morning, Peter.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, so many videotapes and audiotapes have been released since bin Laden's flight. Why haven't they led to his capture?
BERGEN: Well, that's an incredibly good question. We've had almost, by my count, about 30 videotapes or audiotapes from bin Laden himself or Ayman al-Zawahiri, his No. 2, since 9/11.
Clearly, the chain of custody of these tapes should theoretically lead eventually to either one of them. Yet, despite the tens of billions of dollars that we're spending on intelligence-gathering every year, we don't seem to be able to do this rather simple thing, which is trace back the chain of custody of these tapes, which keep coming -- they've been coming more frequent rather than less frequent.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, Al-Jazeera seems to get many of these videotapes and audiotapes, and there is a certain amount of tension between Al-Jazeera and the U.S. government. Perhaps it would be better to try to work with Al-Jazeera. Is that even possible?
BERGEN: Well, I don't know. I mean, Al-Jazeera is, you know, an independent news organization that's interested in breaking news, and clearly sometimes the U.S. government isn't happy about it. But I would be very surprised that the United States doesn't have some sort of ability to understand what's going on in Al-Jazeera in some way.
But I think also al Qaeda itself has probably realized that releasing audiotapes and videotapes is problematic. I mean, the most recent one, the tape we have just before the one that you have just shown, actually was released to the Internet. In a way, you know, that's much more secure for bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri is to release it to the Internet, because it's very hard to trace the Internet chain of custody back to where it was actually provided onto the Internet itself.
COSTELLO: And yet another audiotape released to Al-Jazeera. You know, in march of this year, CNN reported that high-tech surveillance techniques like spy planes and U.S. Predator drones, even ground sensors, were being used to put a squeeze on bin Laden, because he was believed to be in the mountains somewhere between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He still hasn't been found. Does that mean he's not there? BERGEN: Well, it's very hard to know. But, I mean, there's a problem about finding one person. If you remember Ikeman (ph), who was sort of instrumental in the Holocaust, the Israelis spent 15 years tracking him down and finding him in Latin America.
You know, bin Laden is in one of the more inaccessible parts of the world. It's a big place. Just think of Eric Rudolph, who, you know, in Atlanta, the guy who allegedly blew up the Centennial Park, it took five years to find him in this country.
So, take that problem and times it by about 100, and you'll have an idea of how difficult it is to find bin Laden. It's not an easy thing to do.
COSTELLO: You know, I know it's not an easy thing to do, especially in those mountainous regions, and not everyone is so friendly towards the U.S. troops looking. Btu I wanted to ask you this: Is the U.S. military or even the Pakistani government, are they searching new areas for bin Laden?
BERGEN: Well, they are. But, I mean, you know, there is kind of a conventional wisdom he's in the tribal areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan. And he may well be. But it is a fact that all of the senior al Qaeda leaders that have been found have been found not in the tribal areas, but they've been found in cities or towns. They've been found in places like Karachi or Gujarat (ph) or Rawalpindi or Quetta. These are all pretty big cities.
If you look at the videotapes and audiotapes that we keep getting from bin Laden, he's immensely well-informed about recent events. It seems to me that he has access to newspapers, possibly the Internet. If he's really in a remote cave in the tribal areas, there isn't electricity. There isn't the Internet. There aren't newspapers.
So, it seems to me that he might well be in some more urbanized environment. I'm not saying a big city, but at least somewhere where he has access to electricity and also perhaps the Internet.
COSTELLO: Peter Bergen live in Washington this morning. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK.
BERGEN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: We have much more on the tsunami devastation and the ongoing recovery efforts right after the break. And the government wants to know who is responsible for the airline meltdown on Christmas. Will you ever know? We'll have that story head.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: If you are one of the thousands of airline passengers who tried to travel last weekend you know, well, you probably should have stayed home. The government is now ordering an investigation into what went wrong after sick calls and computer glitches stranded thousands of passengers.
Here's a quote from Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. He says: "It is important that the department and the traveling public understand what happened, why it happened, and whether the carriers properly planned for the holiday travel period and responded appropriately to consumer needs in the aftermath."
Not everyone is sure Mineta's investigation will make any difference, though.
So, joining us from left, syndicated talk show host Nancy Skinner. And from the right, syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams, who is on the phone this morning in Myrtle Beach.
Good morning to you both.
NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning, Carol. Good morning, Armstrong.
ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Good morning, Carol. And I'm in Marion. I'm in my hometown.
COSTELLO: Oh, you are? You switched locations on me.
WILLIAMS: Yes. Yes, I'm in Marion, but that's OK. That's OK.
You know, let me just say this on the onset. There is a trust that travelers have with airlines that should never be breached. People have known for quite some time that US Air was in bankruptcy, and many people thought it would be OK until the first of the year.
But because of US Air's executives had started treating some employees like trash, they did not care about them, cutting salaries, forcing them to work late hours, cutting their time, laying people off, the workers became very bitter and very disgruntled.
And because of that, it was no accident that during the busiest time of the year, where US Air and the other airlines make their money, they decided to do sick-out. This was something that was well- orchestrated and well-planned.
But what they forgot is that the public had nothing to do with what was going on between the airline and its employees, and so thousands of people were left stranded. And there should be an investigation, and something should come of it.
COSTELLO: Yes. But, Nancy, what do you think should happen if there was indeed a planned sick-out?
SKINNER: Well, first, let me say that I note how quickly the government wants to get involved and investigate private travel, not the voting problems in this country. They didn't want to get involved with investigating that and so many other more serious things. But they're quick to get involved in this.
I think this was more of the perfect storm, and this is the private travel industry. Lots of things went wrong.
And what the government's role really should be when it comes to transportation is making sure that we have the right mix. They do almost nothing in the United States to look at high-speed rail, like they have in Europe. There are many alternatives that we just don't have. We have congested airports and very little government oversight into the long-term planning needs.
WILLIAMS: Nancy...
COSTELLO: Yes. But, you know...
WILLIAMS: Come on.
COSTELLO: I just want to interject this. But, you know, the government gives millions of dollars to bail out the airlines.
WILLIAMS: You mean billions.
COSTELLO: It doesn't give anything to the train stations.
WILLIAMS: I mean...
COSTELLO: So doesn't it have more of a responsibility here, Armstrong?
WILLIAMS: Absolutely. Billions of dollars they subsidize them. After 9/11, it was the government that came to their rescue. The government has every right to come in when citizens are being treated the way they're being treated now, being left in airports, their luggage cannot be found. This is an issue where the government has direct oversight, and something should be done and a message should be sent to the airlines whether they are in bankruptcy or not, whether they're struggling or not, that despite your circumstances you just cannot treat people with disrespect, no regard for their families, no regard for their travel plans in this way.
And this should never happen again no matter what your circumstances are, because you should never lose trust with the people that are keeping you afloat in the first place. And if the airlines...
COSTELLO: So, Nancy, respond.
SKINNER: Well, I want to say, you know, this -- I am surprised, Armstrong, coming from a free-market conservative like yourself that you want the government involved in every aspect of commerce. Now, I'll tell you, if they...
WILLIAMS: Not every aspect, Nancy.
SKINNER: And let me just finish my point here. Now, these airlines have been treating their employees badly. And in recent years, they've taken severe pay cuts. So, should the government get involved and negotiate for the employees as well? Or is it just on behalf of the shareholders of those corporations? I mean, who are you going to decide that the government should be going to bat for?
WILLIAMS: I think...
SKINNER: Let the industry work itself out. If they're going to go bankrupt, they're going to go bankrupt.
WILLIAMS: But, Nancy, if you're continuing to flood money into the coffers of these airlines, at least the government should make them responsible at least to a certain degree to the people it serves. And that is the public. I mean, did you see the footage on CNN and other networks of people stranded in airports? People can't get home to their loved ones. Luggage lost.
I mean, listen, someone has to bear responsibility...
SKINNER: Then they're not going to fly that airline again. They're never going to go to US Airways again, and that's how the free markets works. That's how it's all Adam Smith (ph), and then that airline goes out of business. And now there are new airlines like...
WILLIAMS: But, Nancy...
SKINNER: ... Independence Air...
COSTELLO: OK, we have to end the debate right there.
SKINNER: ... Southwest...
COSTELLO: And we're going to have to see what Norman Mineta comes up with and if the public will ever know what really happened over the Christmas weekend. Nancy Skinner, Armstrong Williams, thanks to you both for debating this, this morning.
WILLIAMS: Happy New Year's, Carol.
COSTELLO: Happy New Year's to you both as well.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
The search for survivors is under way in parts of Asia. Thousands are missing as a result of the devastating tsunamis that washed ashore in several countries. The death toll in the region has now topped 26,000, and the number will probably keep rising from there.
Ukraine's prime minister won't concede the presidential election and says he plans to appeal the results to the supreme court. Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko has a commanding lead with almost all of the votes counted.
In money news, oil prices continue to fall, plunging almost $3 a barrel yesterday. Typically that helps the market, but it didn't seem to have any impact on equities yesterday.
In culture, George Carlin is entering a drug rehab program. The 67-year-old comedian says he noticed he had a problem with wine and the prescription painkiller, Vicodin. He says he chose rehab so that his use of drugs and alcohol would not get him into deeper trouble.
In sports, the St. Louis Rams kept their playoff hopes alive in a 20-7 win over the undermanned Eagles. Philadelphia had rested many of its starters to avoid injuries because they're assured a playoff perch, and they even have home field advantage.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the headlines for you this morning.
Still ahead on DAYBREAK, we head to southern India to check on recovery efforts there in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: So many are still missing in Thailand, and it's hard to imagine what their families are going through. One such family member will join CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" this morning. Heidi Collins joins us now with more.
Good morning -- Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you as well, Carol.
You know, the tsunami disaster still, of course, a lot to talk about this morning, because there are many Americans who are still waiting to find out what happened to loved ones who were caught in that devastation.
In fact, we're going to talk with a woman by the name of Edna Rainey (ph). Her story is that she has a son who told her on Christmas Eve he was going to a resort in Thailand to teach tai kwon do. Well, now he's missing, and she's not sure which resort he was going to. So, we're going to talk with her and hear more about his story and learn what might be going on to help find him.
That and a whole lot more. We'll have the very latest numbers, of course, coming up in just a few minutes.
Carol -- back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Heidi.
And, you know, Chad, we've been taking a look at the morning headlines, and actually the pictures on the fronts of newspapers across the country are very moving this morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
COSTELLO: This man has seemed to show up a lot. You can see him here. I'll put it to this camera. He's this unidentified man...
MYERS: Yes. COSTELLO: ... just grief-stricken. He's also on the cover of "The Washington Post" this morning.
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: And yesterday, I believe, he was on CNN.com as well.
MYERS: It's hard to look at.
COSTELLO: You know...
MYERS: Obviously the grief of all those countries is just going to be astronomical, because the numbers are going to continue to go up.
COSTELLO: And I keep showing this picture, because this moves me so much. This is on the front of "The New York Times" this morning.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And you can see it's a grieving mother, and she's beside a group of dead children. Some of these children are hers. It's estimated now, according to "The New York Times," that a third of the victims from these tsunamis were children.
MYERS: Right. One-third now.
COSTELLO: Because, you know, they just couldn't run fast enough to get away from the giant waves approaching them.
MYERS: Well...
COSTELLO: And some of them were absolutely mesmerized by them, too.
MYERS: Sure. And even if they could, a lot of that water was 5- 10 feet tall. And if it was 5, an adult can maybe stay above the water where a child -- you know, obviously a 2-foot child has no chance.
COSTELLO: Definitely so. I'm sorry, my producer said something to me, and I did not hear her. Oh, the tidal wave of tears, there's a political -- I don't even want to call it a cartoon. But it's in "USA Today." This is it.
MYERS: Oh.
COSTELLO: It says "Tidal Wave of Tears." And I think that pretty much says it all.
MYERS: Yes. I mean, we've been using the word, "tidal wave," a lot, because that's just what people think of it as. It is still really just a wave created by the earthquake. It's called a tsunami. And so, it has nothing to do with the tides. But, you know, you have to give us some leeway, because that's what people understand.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: That's what they understand it to be.
COSTELLO: Exactly. You know, we got an interesting e-mail from Alaska, too, that said that these tsunamis and this gigantic earthquake affected the ice in Alaska.
MYERS: Oh, it certainly could have. There was some leakage, Carol, as the water came around. You know, not everyone was hit by the wave. And the wave leaked around at time. It leaked around some of the islands, leaked through and around Australia and into the Pacific. There was actually a six-inch rise in Hawaii, but about a 20-inch rise down in parts of Mexico. So, a little rise in Alaska is completely not out of the question.
If you take that water, you push it up where it's not supposed to be, the ice cracks. And I was seeing how the fish were popping out of the ice up there in Alaska...
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
MYERS: ... in some of the bays, yes.
COSTELLO: Yes, I was just trying to find this e-mail that I got. But you're right. It broke the ice.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And people went fishing.
MYERS: Well, not a lot. I mean, you're talking only a foot. But if the ice is right where it should be, and the water pushes up, obviously it will crack.
COSTELLO: Amazing.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: We're going to take a short break. We'll be back with more. This is DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A question this morning: Could the killer tsunamis that devastated parts of Asia have happened here in the United States? As CNN's Adaora Udoji reports, they already have.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The terror of a tsunami, triggered by an earthquake, swept Valdez, Alaska, off of the map on Good Friday in 1964. More than 100 people were killed down the coast to California.
Since 1946, tsunamis have hit Alaska four times, causing death and destruction all the way to Hawaii. Today, scientists worry a tsunami could strike North America again. They worry about active fault lines causing earthquakes in the west, a triggering event for monster waves.
Government officials worry, too, which is why a federal warning system also monitors other potential triggers: volcanoes, meteorites and landslides.
D.I. JOHNSON, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: The warning systems are in their infancy. We're getting better and better at informing the public.
UDOJI: The East Coast hasn't been completely spared. A tidal wave bashed Newfoundland in 1929, killing 27. Another hit Puerto Rico in 1918.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have big earthquakes here. We're not going to see that big type of tsunami.
UDOJI: But are there theories the East Coast still may be vulnerable. Some argue if the volcano in the Canary Islands near Africa suddenly erupted and collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean, it could send violent ripples to the U.S. coast within nine hours.
Other scientists worry about gases escaping the continental crust 50 to 100 miles off the coast of North Carolina.
The idea of an explosive shift, argues Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Weissel, leads to troubling questions.
JEFFREY WEISSEL, PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: We were surprised and everybody was surprised of that -- surprised about the amount of gas that we found. And we don't understand the full implications for inciting future submarine landslides, which then might produce dangerous tsunamis.
UDOJI: Scientists say they just can't yet connect all the dots, but many still believe the West Coast has a greater risk of getting hit.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And I'm just reading more e-mails from our viewers. A lot of you want to know how you can help, where you can send money and supplies. We have a few numbers to show you now, and if you don't have anything to write them down right now, all of these numbers are at CNN.com. You can see there the Red Cross is asking for your help. RedCross.org, 1-800-help-now, or you can call on Care, CareUSA.org, 1- 800-521-care.
Let's go to the next batch now, shall we? This is AmeriCares. You can also call them, 800-486-help. Also, Doctors Without Borders, 888-392-0392, and that's very important, because there aren't enough doctors in Asia to help out. In fact, they're performing -- I don't know. You can see a lot of medical care taking place right out on the streets.
So, send your money in. CNN.com.
From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" is next.
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9
Aired December 28, 2004 - 06:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to take people to Phuket, Thailand, now and CNN's Aneesh Raman for more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The death toll in southern Thailand is now reaching above 1,000 here on Phuket Island, more than 200 confirmed dead. Officials say this is to be expected, given the vast numbers of people that were drawn to the ocean after those initial waves rocked this shore.
Bodies have been washing ashore now for more than a day. And the boats that are encircling the island looking for survivors are also collecting those that simply did not make it.
The Thai government is really dealing with dual challenges right now. On one level, there are numbers of tourists, many of whom are injured who are desperate to get home. Others that need expert medical help in Bangkok. So, the Thai government is trying to be as accommodating to those who are now dealing with such horrific tragedy in a foreign land.
At the other level, the Thai government is trying to reach out to the nationals of this country, who in many cases are starting over, their homes completely gone. For those who worked in the tourist industries on Phuket or Phi Phi Island, they have to start over economically as well. Their shops have been gutted. And it really is from these three months of work that they fund themselves for the year. So, for them, it's unclear what comes next.
Throughout the day, more rescue and relief efforts will continue, and as the Thai prime minister has suggested, that death toll is likely to continue to rise.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Phuket, southern Thailand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And you can head to CNN.com for even more news on the devastation in Asia. There, you can find a special report on the threat of disease now facing the survivors. That, plus updates throughout the day all on CNN.com.
Talking about relief getting over there to Asia, Colin Powell says the United States is sending financial assistance to help the tsunami victims. The secretary of state will be a guest on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
Rick Sanchez now joins us with more.
There is some controversy about this, because some say what he's sending -- what the United States is not enough.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there has been a conversation about that going on now for several weeks. Some saying that the percentage that the United States has been giving in aid, not just in this case, but in other cases in the past isn't really comparable to some of the other developed nations in the world, places like Sweden for example. So, expect to hear a lot about that.
We're going to be having a conversation, as you mentioned, with Secretary of State Colin Powell Carol. And we're going to be talking about those specific numbers as well. I mean, right now we're hearing numbers of $15 million for tsunami relief.
Also, a lot of Americans anxiously are waiting for word about loved ones. We're going to talk to one particular community in southern California, where there are thousands and thousands of families that have been going to temples, trying to find out what they can possibly do.
And one particular relief organization out there that's helping them do that, trying to kind of put it all together to find a way to help the folks out there.
So, really a lot going on as we continue to cover this tsunami story here on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
Carol -- back over to you.
COSTELLO: All right, we'll see you in a half-hour. Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right.
COSTELLO: In our "Security Watch" this morning, a message to the Iraqi people and it's apparently from the world's most-wanted terrorist. The CIA says an audiotape, aired on the Arabic network Al- Jazeera, appears to contain the voice of Osama bin Laden. The speaker urges Iraqis to boycott next month's elections and praises the terror campaign of wanted militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Here's a translated excerpt for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We ask God to accept this unity and bless it, and for all to know the dear mujahed brother, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is the prince of al Qaeda in Iraq. So we ask all our organization's brethren to listen to him and obey him in his good deeds.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: So, twice this month we have heard from Osama bin Laden. The last time anyone outside of his inner circle actually saw him was in November of 2002. He was escaping to Tora Bora. And then he seemingly vanished.
The end of another year is approaching, so we thought we'd examine why bin Laden continues to be so elusive.
Terror expert Peter Bergen is live in Washington this morning.
Good morning, Peter.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, so many videotapes and audiotapes have been released since bin Laden's flight. Why haven't they led to his capture?
BERGEN: Well, that's an incredibly good question. We've had almost, by my count, about 30 videotapes or audiotapes from bin Laden himself or Ayman al-Zawahiri, his No. 2, since 9/11.
Clearly, the chain of custody of these tapes should theoretically lead eventually to either one of them. Yet, despite the tens of billions of dollars that we're spending on intelligence-gathering every year, we don't seem to be able to do this rather simple thing, which is trace back the chain of custody of these tapes, which keep coming -- they've been coming more frequent rather than less frequent.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, Al-Jazeera seems to get many of these videotapes and audiotapes, and there is a certain amount of tension between Al-Jazeera and the U.S. government. Perhaps it would be better to try to work with Al-Jazeera. Is that even possible?
BERGEN: Well, I don't know. I mean, Al-Jazeera is, you know, an independent news organization that's interested in breaking news, and clearly sometimes the U.S. government isn't happy about it. But I would be very surprised that the United States doesn't have some sort of ability to understand what's going on in Al-Jazeera in some way.
But I think also al Qaeda itself has probably realized that releasing audiotapes and videotapes is problematic. I mean, the most recent one, the tape we have just before the one that you have just shown, actually was released to the Internet. In a way, you know, that's much more secure for bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri is to release it to the Internet, because it's very hard to trace the Internet chain of custody back to where it was actually provided onto the Internet itself.
COSTELLO: And yet another audiotape released to Al-Jazeera. You know, in march of this year, CNN reported that high-tech surveillance techniques like spy planes and U.S. Predator drones, even ground sensors, were being used to put a squeeze on bin Laden, because he was believed to be in the mountains somewhere between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He still hasn't been found. Does that mean he's not there? BERGEN: Well, it's very hard to know. But, I mean, there's a problem about finding one person. If you remember Ikeman (ph), who was sort of instrumental in the Holocaust, the Israelis spent 15 years tracking him down and finding him in Latin America.
You know, bin Laden is in one of the more inaccessible parts of the world. It's a big place. Just think of Eric Rudolph, who, you know, in Atlanta, the guy who allegedly blew up the Centennial Park, it took five years to find him in this country.
So, take that problem and times it by about 100, and you'll have an idea of how difficult it is to find bin Laden. It's not an easy thing to do.
COSTELLO: You know, I know it's not an easy thing to do, especially in those mountainous regions, and not everyone is so friendly towards the U.S. troops looking. Btu I wanted to ask you this: Is the U.S. military or even the Pakistani government, are they searching new areas for bin Laden?
BERGEN: Well, they are. But, I mean, you know, there is kind of a conventional wisdom he's in the tribal areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan. And he may well be. But it is a fact that all of the senior al Qaeda leaders that have been found have been found not in the tribal areas, but they've been found in cities or towns. They've been found in places like Karachi or Gujarat (ph) or Rawalpindi or Quetta. These are all pretty big cities.
If you look at the videotapes and audiotapes that we keep getting from bin Laden, he's immensely well-informed about recent events. It seems to me that he has access to newspapers, possibly the Internet. If he's really in a remote cave in the tribal areas, there isn't electricity. There isn't the Internet. There aren't newspapers.
So, it seems to me that he might well be in some more urbanized environment. I'm not saying a big city, but at least somewhere where he has access to electricity and also perhaps the Internet.
COSTELLO: Peter Bergen live in Washington this morning. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK.
BERGEN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: We have much more on the tsunami devastation and the ongoing recovery efforts right after the break. And the government wants to know who is responsible for the airline meltdown on Christmas. Will you ever know? We'll have that story head.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: If you are one of the thousands of airline passengers who tried to travel last weekend you know, well, you probably should have stayed home. The government is now ordering an investigation into what went wrong after sick calls and computer glitches stranded thousands of passengers.
Here's a quote from Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. He says: "It is important that the department and the traveling public understand what happened, why it happened, and whether the carriers properly planned for the holiday travel period and responded appropriately to consumer needs in the aftermath."
Not everyone is sure Mineta's investigation will make any difference, though.
So, joining us from left, syndicated talk show host Nancy Skinner. And from the right, syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams, who is on the phone this morning in Myrtle Beach.
Good morning to you both.
NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning, Carol. Good morning, Armstrong.
ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Good morning, Carol. And I'm in Marion. I'm in my hometown.
COSTELLO: Oh, you are? You switched locations on me.
WILLIAMS: Yes. Yes, I'm in Marion, but that's OK. That's OK.
You know, let me just say this on the onset. There is a trust that travelers have with airlines that should never be breached. People have known for quite some time that US Air was in bankruptcy, and many people thought it would be OK until the first of the year.
But because of US Air's executives had started treating some employees like trash, they did not care about them, cutting salaries, forcing them to work late hours, cutting their time, laying people off, the workers became very bitter and very disgruntled.
And because of that, it was no accident that during the busiest time of the year, where US Air and the other airlines make their money, they decided to do sick-out. This was something that was well- orchestrated and well-planned.
But what they forgot is that the public had nothing to do with what was going on between the airline and its employees, and so thousands of people were left stranded. And there should be an investigation, and something should come of it.
COSTELLO: Yes. But, Nancy, what do you think should happen if there was indeed a planned sick-out?
SKINNER: Well, first, let me say that I note how quickly the government wants to get involved and investigate private travel, not the voting problems in this country. They didn't want to get involved with investigating that and so many other more serious things. But they're quick to get involved in this.
I think this was more of the perfect storm, and this is the private travel industry. Lots of things went wrong.
And what the government's role really should be when it comes to transportation is making sure that we have the right mix. They do almost nothing in the United States to look at high-speed rail, like they have in Europe. There are many alternatives that we just don't have. We have congested airports and very little government oversight into the long-term planning needs.
WILLIAMS: Nancy...
COSTELLO: Yes. But, you know...
WILLIAMS: Come on.
COSTELLO: I just want to interject this. But, you know, the government gives millions of dollars to bail out the airlines.
WILLIAMS: You mean billions.
COSTELLO: It doesn't give anything to the train stations.
WILLIAMS: I mean...
COSTELLO: So doesn't it have more of a responsibility here, Armstrong?
WILLIAMS: Absolutely. Billions of dollars they subsidize them. After 9/11, it was the government that came to their rescue. The government has every right to come in when citizens are being treated the way they're being treated now, being left in airports, their luggage cannot be found. This is an issue where the government has direct oversight, and something should be done and a message should be sent to the airlines whether they are in bankruptcy or not, whether they're struggling or not, that despite your circumstances you just cannot treat people with disrespect, no regard for their families, no regard for their travel plans in this way.
And this should never happen again no matter what your circumstances are, because you should never lose trust with the people that are keeping you afloat in the first place. And if the airlines...
COSTELLO: So, Nancy, respond.
SKINNER: Well, I want to say, you know, this -- I am surprised, Armstrong, coming from a free-market conservative like yourself that you want the government involved in every aspect of commerce. Now, I'll tell you, if they...
WILLIAMS: Not every aspect, Nancy.
SKINNER: And let me just finish my point here. Now, these airlines have been treating their employees badly. And in recent years, they've taken severe pay cuts. So, should the government get involved and negotiate for the employees as well? Or is it just on behalf of the shareholders of those corporations? I mean, who are you going to decide that the government should be going to bat for?
WILLIAMS: I think...
SKINNER: Let the industry work itself out. If they're going to go bankrupt, they're going to go bankrupt.
WILLIAMS: But, Nancy, if you're continuing to flood money into the coffers of these airlines, at least the government should make them responsible at least to a certain degree to the people it serves. And that is the public. I mean, did you see the footage on CNN and other networks of people stranded in airports? People can't get home to their loved ones. Luggage lost.
I mean, listen, someone has to bear responsibility...
SKINNER: Then they're not going to fly that airline again. They're never going to go to US Airways again, and that's how the free markets works. That's how it's all Adam Smith (ph), and then that airline goes out of business. And now there are new airlines like...
WILLIAMS: But, Nancy...
SKINNER: ... Independence Air...
COSTELLO: OK, we have to end the debate right there.
SKINNER: ... Southwest...
COSTELLO: And we're going to have to see what Norman Mineta comes up with and if the public will ever know what really happened over the Christmas weekend. Nancy Skinner, Armstrong Williams, thanks to you both for debating this, this morning.
WILLIAMS: Happy New Year's, Carol.
COSTELLO: Happy New Year's to you both as well.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
The search for survivors is under way in parts of Asia. Thousands are missing as a result of the devastating tsunamis that washed ashore in several countries. The death toll in the region has now topped 26,000, and the number will probably keep rising from there.
Ukraine's prime minister won't concede the presidential election and says he plans to appeal the results to the supreme court. Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko has a commanding lead with almost all of the votes counted.
In money news, oil prices continue to fall, plunging almost $3 a barrel yesterday. Typically that helps the market, but it didn't seem to have any impact on equities yesterday.
In culture, George Carlin is entering a drug rehab program. The 67-year-old comedian says he noticed he had a problem with wine and the prescription painkiller, Vicodin. He says he chose rehab so that his use of drugs and alcohol would not get him into deeper trouble.
In sports, the St. Louis Rams kept their playoff hopes alive in a 20-7 win over the undermanned Eagles. Philadelphia had rested many of its starters to avoid injuries because they're assured a playoff perch, and they even have home field advantage.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the headlines for you this morning.
Still ahead on DAYBREAK, we head to southern India to check on recovery efforts there in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: So many are still missing in Thailand, and it's hard to imagine what their families are going through. One such family member will join CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" this morning. Heidi Collins joins us now with more.
Good morning -- Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you as well, Carol.
You know, the tsunami disaster still, of course, a lot to talk about this morning, because there are many Americans who are still waiting to find out what happened to loved ones who were caught in that devastation.
In fact, we're going to talk with a woman by the name of Edna Rainey (ph). Her story is that she has a son who told her on Christmas Eve he was going to a resort in Thailand to teach tai kwon do. Well, now he's missing, and she's not sure which resort he was going to. So, we're going to talk with her and hear more about his story and learn what might be going on to help find him.
That and a whole lot more. We'll have the very latest numbers, of course, coming up in just a few minutes.
Carol -- back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Heidi.
And, you know, Chad, we've been taking a look at the morning headlines, and actually the pictures on the fronts of newspapers across the country are very moving this morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
COSTELLO: This man has seemed to show up a lot. You can see him here. I'll put it to this camera. He's this unidentified man...
MYERS: Yes. COSTELLO: ... just grief-stricken. He's also on the cover of "The Washington Post" this morning.
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: And yesterday, I believe, he was on CNN.com as well.
MYERS: It's hard to look at.
COSTELLO: You know...
MYERS: Obviously the grief of all those countries is just going to be astronomical, because the numbers are going to continue to go up.
COSTELLO: And I keep showing this picture, because this moves me so much. This is on the front of "The New York Times" this morning.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And you can see it's a grieving mother, and she's beside a group of dead children. Some of these children are hers. It's estimated now, according to "The New York Times," that a third of the victims from these tsunamis were children.
MYERS: Right. One-third now.
COSTELLO: Because, you know, they just couldn't run fast enough to get away from the giant waves approaching them.
MYERS: Well...
COSTELLO: And some of them were absolutely mesmerized by them, too.
MYERS: Sure. And even if they could, a lot of that water was 5- 10 feet tall. And if it was 5, an adult can maybe stay above the water where a child -- you know, obviously a 2-foot child has no chance.
COSTELLO: Definitely so. I'm sorry, my producer said something to me, and I did not hear her. Oh, the tidal wave of tears, there's a political -- I don't even want to call it a cartoon. But it's in "USA Today." This is it.
MYERS: Oh.
COSTELLO: It says "Tidal Wave of Tears." And I think that pretty much says it all.
MYERS: Yes. I mean, we've been using the word, "tidal wave," a lot, because that's just what people think of it as. It is still really just a wave created by the earthquake. It's called a tsunami. And so, it has nothing to do with the tides. But, you know, you have to give us some leeway, because that's what people understand.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: That's what they understand it to be.
COSTELLO: Exactly. You know, we got an interesting e-mail from Alaska, too, that said that these tsunamis and this gigantic earthquake affected the ice in Alaska.
MYERS: Oh, it certainly could have. There was some leakage, Carol, as the water came around. You know, not everyone was hit by the wave. And the wave leaked around at time. It leaked around some of the islands, leaked through and around Australia and into the Pacific. There was actually a six-inch rise in Hawaii, but about a 20-inch rise down in parts of Mexico. So, a little rise in Alaska is completely not out of the question.
If you take that water, you push it up where it's not supposed to be, the ice cracks. And I was seeing how the fish were popping out of the ice up there in Alaska...
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
MYERS: ... in some of the bays, yes.
COSTELLO: Yes, I was just trying to find this e-mail that I got. But you're right. It broke the ice.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And people went fishing.
MYERS: Well, not a lot. I mean, you're talking only a foot. But if the ice is right where it should be, and the water pushes up, obviously it will crack.
COSTELLO: Amazing.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: We're going to take a short break. We'll be back with more. This is DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A question this morning: Could the killer tsunamis that devastated parts of Asia have happened here in the United States? As CNN's Adaora Udoji reports, they already have.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The terror of a tsunami, triggered by an earthquake, swept Valdez, Alaska, off of the map on Good Friday in 1964. More than 100 people were killed down the coast to California.
Since 1946, tsunamis have hit Alaska four times, causing death and destruction all the way to Hawaii. Today, scientists worry a tsunami could strike North America again. They worry about active fault lines causing earthquakes in the west, a triggering event for monster waves.
Government officials worry, too, which is why a federal warning system also monitors other potential triggers: volcanoes, meteorites and landslides.
D.I. JOHNSON, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: The warning systems are in their infancy. We're getting better and better at informing the public.
UDOJI: The East Coast hasn't been completely spared. A tidal wave bashed Newfoundland in 1929, killing 27. Another hit Puerto Rico in 1918.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have big earthquakes here. We're not going to see that big type of tsunami.
UDOJI: But are there theories the East Coast still may be vulnerable. Some argue if the volcano in the Canary Islands near Africa suddenly erupted and collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean, it could send violent ripples to the U.S. coast within nine hours.
Other scientists worry about gases escaping the continental crust 50 to 100 miles off the coast of North Carolina.
The idea of an explosive shift, argues Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Weissel, leads to troubling questions.
JEFFREY WEISSEL, PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: We were surprised and everybody was surprised of that -- surprised about the amount of gas that we found. And we don't understand the full implications for inciting future submarine landslides, which then might produce dangerous tsunamis.
UDOJI: Scientists say they just can't yet connect all the dots, but many still believe the West Coast has a greater risk of getting hit.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And I'm just reading more e-mails from our viewers. A lot of you want to know how you can help, where you can send money and supplies. We have a few numbers to show you now, and if you don't have anything to write them down right now, all of these numbers are at CNN.com. You can see there the Red Cross is asking for your help. RedCross.org, 1-800-help-now, or you can call on Care, CareUSA.org, 1- 800-521-care.
Let's go to the next batch now, shall we? This is AmeriCares. You can also call them, 800-486-help. Also, Doctors Without Borders, 888-392-0392, and that's very important, because there aren't enough doctors in Asia to help out. In fact, they're performing -- I don't know. You can see a lot of medical care taking place right out on the streets.
So, send your money in. CNN.com.
From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" is next.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
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