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CNN Live At Daybreak

India Issues Tsunami Alert; Tsunami Aid Efforts; Disaster Donations from Americans; Tattered Tourism

Aired December 30, 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: A false alarm and widespread panic. About five hours ago, India's home ministry issued a new tsunami warning. People were told to move away from the coastlines. The warning was for the southern state of Tamil Nadu. No major seismic activity had been reported in the area, though, but that did not stop people who have already been through one horrific event from reacting in absolute panic.
CNN correspondent Ram Ramgopal is there. He joins us now to clarify what's happening there.

Hello.

RAM RAMGOPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

In fact, there has been no official withdrawal of that warning, although one of the senior ministers in India's government had a news conference just a short time ago, saying that despite any warnings, that relief work should continue in the stricken areas, that there should not be certainly a cause for people to want to leave town.

I think he was referring to some non-governmental organizations working in this part of India, in the southern part of India, and some of that is state, who reportedly left as soon as they heard about this warning, partly because the police told them that they had to leave.

Now, the warning, according to some people, was also overstated, because what it was is that some weather office indicated that there is a possibility of tsunamis in a sort of unmentioned future period. They're basically saying that aftershocks could continue.

So, there was a little bit of confusion as to whether that meant an immediate tsunami warning, but that was not the case -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, but, Ron, they said that that tsunami was going to strike in 20 minutes. It seems like that was a really big mistake that caused unnecessary panic.

RAMGOPAL: Which would appear to so, Carol, because certainly there was no event. But at the same time, perhaps the Indian government has also said that, you know, they don't to underplay any warnings that they might receive. In fact, one of the ministries in the Indian government said that they had received word from a foreign government, perhaps Australia, about some seismic activity, and that they were acting on that information. So, the government says that it was doing what it had to do to warn people. But at the same time, it would appear that if this was a false alarm, in fact many people here have now gone back to the seashores and the relief work is resuming.

COSTELLO: Ron Ramgopal from Tamil Nadu, live this morning. Thank you.

A power conference call last night, officials from the United States, Japan, Australia and India trying to coordinate relief efforts for tsunami victims. In the meantime, members of Congress are trying to come up with the money.

Our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, joins us live from Washington with more.

Good morning -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

As you can imagine, of course, President Bush, who emerged from his Crawford ranch yesterday -- this was about four days after this tsunami disaster -- he pledged, of course, his long-term support for the region, and really bristled at suggestions that the U.S. was not responding adequately enough.

He announced that that $35 million that was pledged in aid is really just the beginning, that he has reached out to world leaders, making phone calls to the leaders of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia, asking them what their most pressing needs are. And he also said he's going to be forming this regional group with other countries, you know, Japan, India, Australia, to try and help coordinate these relief efforts.

And he really took issue with the comment that was made by a U.N. relief worker that, in fact, that the country was stingy.

COSTELLO: Suzanne, though, what was the reason, the real reason, behind the fact that the president didn't appear in public until four days after this disaster?

MALVEAUX: Well, aides say that the president wanted to wait before speaking publicly, so he could give more specifics about what the United States was ready and willing to offer, that certainly they were coordinating efforts behind the scenes. There were State Department officials who had been burning up the phones and trying to coordinate with the Pentagon in terms of how they could get those supplies as quickly as possible.

It is interesting to note, however, Carol, that you talk about, you know, the money and where is this money going to come from. And this really has already sparked debate among lawmakers, who haven't even come back from their recess about what are they going to do here.

Just to put these numbers in context, you're talking about $35 million in aid pledged for this tsunami disaster. Now, Congress approved $13 billion for U.S. hurricane relief just this past year.

Now, nobody expects that this number is going to climb to anything that comes even close to that, but some of the things that they're talking about is possibly putting or adding more relief for the tsunami aid in a supplemental that's attached, you know, to an Iraq package or using perhaps part of the money that hasn't been used for Iraq reconstruction and diverting it to aid for Southeast Asia.

COSTELLO: Interesting. I know some Democrats have already come out and said that or suggested that idea. We're going to talk about that in just a bit. Thank you, Suzanne Malveaux.

As we've been saying, there are some who say the president took too long to speak out about this crisis. It seemed insensitive, they said, that the American president didn't step up to express his sorrow and to deliver a massive amount of aid.

Well, he did step up yesterday. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Take, for example, in the year 2004, our government provided $2.4 billion in food and cash and humanitarian relief to cover the disasters for last year. That's $2.4 billion. That's 40 percent of all the relief aid given in the world last year was provided by the United States' government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well, was this another blown chance to improve the image of Americans abroad? Or were Colin Powell's appearances on behalf of the president enough?

Let's head live back to Washington and our political analyst, Ron Brownstein.

Good morning -- Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK. There are many who are saying this was the chance for America to show its generosity, to restore its battered image. Is it?

BROWNSTEIN: I think the chance is still there. Look, the answer is that the president probably did wait too long. Sometimes the president has sort of a tin ear or almost a willful indifference to international opinion, but I'm not sure it's going to matter that much in the long run.

In an event of this magnitude, deeds matter more than words. And we are going to be judged by our ultimate effort in helping to combat this awful tragedy.

COSTELLO: Surely more aid is to come. Democrats are already suggesting that -- well, I'm going to read you a quote from Vermont Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy. He says: "We spend $35 million before breakfast in Iraq." And he's suggesting that a portion of the largely unspent 18 billion for Iraq reconstruction be redirected for Asian relief efforts.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first of all, I think the president has been very clear, and everyone in the administration has been clear, that the 35 million they've talked about so far is really just the front edge of what is going to probably be a commitment measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. If you think that they're talking about a range right now -- it may grow -- of $2 billion total in international commitments the U.S. often provides about 20 percent of worldwide foreign aid. And I think we could be looking at something, you know, in the mid-hundreds of millions.

Now, the next question is: Where do you come up with that money? The administration has already been up on Capitol Hill talking about supplemental appropriations. Obviously, there is only so much you can move around money, so they're going to need some new money.

Democrats will argue for shifting this from Iraq. I'm not sure where Republicans will be on that. We have a very big national deficit right now. Another half a billion dollars will pretty much be a rounding error.

COSTELLO: In some ways, though, isn't our government stuck between a rock and a hard place? Because, you know -- I mean, sending money there to aid the victims is one thing, but it really is a chance to bolter America's image over there.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COSTELLO: And that's really important.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, and that is. And I think that's why -- I think in the end, you will see a very robust effort from the U.S. government. I mean, American officials understand that especially in the wake of Iraq we are facing a great deal of opinion around the world that we are (UNINTELLIGIBLE) toward military might as a way of pursuing our goals in the world. And this is an important opportunity in a tragic way to show that we can meet other needs, and particularly when you're dealing with a country like Indonesia with a large Muslim population.

So, I do think they understand the stakes here, and especially since the U.N. officials have raised the broader issue of whether the rich nations, including the United States, are providing enough foreign aid more broadly, not only the disaster relief that the president specifically spoke about yesterday, but development aid. And, you know, on that debate, there are very different points of view as well.

I would just add on that front, and perhaps on the relief front as well, there's an interesting development. The president has been pushing something he calls the Millennium Challenge Account, which tries to tie foreign aid more closely to results in the receiving countries -- good governance, rooting out corruption, ensuring that money gets to the people.

I would suspect that this could be an opportunity to advance some of those same principles and ensure that as we move beyond the relief into the reconstruction, that countries that are receiving the aid are making sure that those who get the help are the most needy rather than the most connected.

COSTELLO: Ron Brownstein live from Washington. Thanks for your input this morning.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Another note...

BROWNSTEIN: Happy New Year to you.

COSTELLO: Another note about the criticism the United States is facing about the amount of aid it's doling out to South Asia, we posed a question to our viewers earlier this morning about whether the U.S. should send aid.

Hundreds e-mailed back saying things like this: Edwin from Virginia writes: "America is great. It does have a relative obligation to assist other countries who are in need. However, who will help America when it is in need? Throughout this globe, everyone hates Americans. Yet, whenever those who hate us need money or assistance, everything changes. Who helped America during the 9/11 and Florida hurricane disasters? I don't think we, America, need to start footing the bill for the tsunami disaster. The country where this disaster took place has the primary obligation to assist its inhabitants since it collects taxes from them."

And, you know, that, frankly, surprised us, because we got a lot of e-mails just like that, especially in light of the outpouring of generosity we've seen across the country. In a matter of hours, Amazon.com raised a million bucks online. The Christian Children's Fund in Richmond was surprised to get a $10,000 check. And the Red Cross has been flooded with donations.

So, joining us live from the Christian Children's Fund is Betty Forbes.

Good morning, Betty.

BETTY FORBES, V.P., CHRISTIAN CHILDREN'S FUND: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Tell us about the generosity of Americans.

FORBES: Well, Christian Children's Fund has always been fortunate to have very generous supporters, who always step forward financially whenever there are children in crisis. But this time, where there is such widespread devastation and loss of life, we have been overwhelmed by our telephone contributions from individuals, businesses and civic organizations, who don't normally give to international causes. These gifts range anywhere from $5 to one single gift of more than $300,000 just the day before yesterday. And at our headquarters in Richmond, people are stopping by and, as you mentioned, leaving a check for as much as $10,000 and giving that level of donations over the telephone as well. We have not seen such an outpouring of generosity since the 9/11 tragedy here in the U.S.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, Betty, I'm wondering why we've been getting so many e-mails from viewers saying that, you know, we maybe shouldn't send so much money to South Asia, because we have problems of our own.

FORBES: I really don't know, because we believe and have believed for many years since we've been in operation for 66 years that people do truly believe that they are citizens of the world. And when a neighbor is need, whether it is a neighbor next door or halfway around the world, caring people are going to respond. And this morning on your program you heard a gentleman ask for milk for the children, that they needed the milk.

This time, Carol, we're not only delivering water, food, blankets, the basic necessities to keep people going, but we are delivering the baby bottles along with the milk. These people have nothing. Everything they have has been snatched away from them in less than an hour. If you can just put a visual on that, I think any caring human being is going to want to do whatever they can.

COSTELLO: Betty, Chad has a question for you.

FORBES: OK.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Ms. Forbes, I'm getting so many e-mails here with people literally individually wanting to donate. But they don't want to give their money to somebody or some organization that's going to take 60 percent for administrative costs. Let me -- what are your administrative costs? And what are maybe some of the other places they can donate that's not going to take 30-40 percent for administrative costs? What are some of the best places to give?

FORBES: Well, we are very pleased to report that we send over 80 cents out of every single dollar to the field for services for children. I think you will see that same kind of approach with the American Red Cross as well. People do need to be very, very cautious. They need to check out the credibility of any organization that they're going to give to.

They also need to find out how long an organization has worked in any one of these countries, how fast they can mobilize volunteers, as well as staff, on the ground. They need to know what the impact of their dollar will be.

MYERS: OK.

FORBES: I think if we can answer that question, they will get a better comfort level with making their donations to any organization. COSTELLO: Well, Betty, we hope the donations continue to pour into your organization. And thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

FORBES: Thank you for having us.

COSTELLO: Betty Forbes.

Relief efforts are under way in all areas affected by the tsunami. But much more help is needed.

Let's go now live to "AMERICAN MORNING's" Heidi Collins.

Good morning -- Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Carol.

And, yes, that's right. I mean, the need is so great that there are so many questions about how to get that aid to these people. So, we're going to talk with U.N. emergency relief coordinator Yan Anglin (ph). What is the biggest challenge in getting relief to the needy now? And how do you get it there when the local infrastructure, like roads, are basically gone? As many as five million people now could be at risk for survival.

Also, what does he have to say about international relief efforts so far? Earlier this week, you may remember some criticism toward him, saying that Western countries are stingy. So, we're going to get his reaction to that and his thoughts now on the whole situation there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, we've been talking a lot about that this morning ourselves, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, you sure have.

COSTELLO: We'll catch you in 20 minutes. Thank you.

It was a playground for the wealthy, an exotic resort locale. What is the future of the tourist industry in the area hit hard by the tsunami? We'll take a look after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:47 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

India issues a new tsunami warning, triggering panic across South Asia. No tsunamis occurred, but there was a minor earthquake this morning around Indonesia's Sumatra Island.

A church fire has forced about 100 people from their homes in Philadelphia this morning. The Sharin (ph) Baptist Church in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood caught fire nearly three hours ago. No injuries were reported. A shelter has been set up at a nearby elementary school. No word on what caused this fire. In money news, McDonald's Corporation is considering requiring its chicken suppliers to use more humane slaughter methods. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claims some chickens are now scalded to death.

In culture, in the past few years more than 1,200 schools have stopped serving children milk in paper cartons. School officials say when the milk is in plastic bottles, more kids drink it.

In sports, Cleveland's LeBron James collided with Houston's Dikembe Mutombo and left the game in the first half. James suffered a bruised bone in his face. Houston won the game. Would that not be terrible for Cleveland if LeBron James was out?

MYERS: That would be pricey, wouldn't it?

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: You know, I'm just reading our e-mails coming in about our question: Is the United States doing enough to help out in South Asia?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: And people are fired up about this issue. Six hundred e-mails.

MYERS: Wow!

COSTELLO: Just within the last 45 minutes.

MYERS: Yes, and it's black and white. And you know what? A lot of Canadians are chirping in this morning, too, because their government chimed in, like, $40 million, too. So, they really want to let us know that they did something good up there, too. So...

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Well, we have to point out that the president said this $35 million figure is just the beginning.

MYERS: Well, sure.

COSTELLO: And that America will probably be giving much more over the days and weeks to come.

MYERS: Well, it's a huge tragedy.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. And we'll be following it.

MYERS: What is that? Eleven cents per person or something like that?

COSTELLO: Right now with the 35 million, yes. Yes.

We have been hearing about some amazing survivor stories all morning. Rick Sanchez will have more on "AMERICAN MORNING." Rick has a preview now.

Good morning.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. As a matter of fact, this really is a story about people, how people react in situations when they're faced with something like this, a tragedy of this magnitude.

We're going to be talking to two families who survived the tsunami, not by running away, interestingly enough, from the water, but by staying in the water. The parents were scuba diving at the time. The kids were snorkeling. All of them, we're happy to say, survived. What did they see underwater as the tsunami was going over them? What was the most frightening part of it? And how did they know that the safest place to be during the tsunami was underwater, to actually stay there and not come up? Despite the fact they didn't really know what was going on, they seemed to have an instinct.

We'll tell you their story right here on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Carol -- back over to you.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Rick.

Tourism in South Asia is paradise lost. Coming up next, we'll take a closer look at the loss of tourist dollars, just when those countries desperately need money. DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now let's switch from the human toll of the tsunamis to the economic impact. Hotels and resorts were devastated along the once pristine coastlines. The tourism industry will lose hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

Joining us to talk about the effect on tourism is Francesco Frangialli. He's secretary-general of the U.N.'s World Tourism Organization.

Good morning to you.

FRANCESCO FRANGIALLI, SECRETARY-GENERAL, WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Tell us how important tourism is to that part of the world.

FRANGIALLI: It's a very important part of the world (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is concerned. And in the recent months, this region, Southeast Asia, has been the most vibrant and dynamic part of the world, strongly recuperating from the 2003 (UNINTELLIGIBLE) epidemic.

Just a few figures: In 2003, six countries which have been the most affected by the tsunami received some 30 million international visitors. The figure should be close to 40 million in 2004. And these visitors spent some $25 billion of U.S. dollars.

So, it's an important region, and it has been the real engine of tourism worldwide in the past months.

COSTELLO: You know, we see the pictures of the devastation there and the damage. But some hotels remain unscathed. Is that right?

FRANGIALLI: Yes. What I would like to say is that, first of all, all of the destinations were not affected in the tsunami. And within the countries themselves, the situation is very, very diverse.

You know, for instance, if we look at India and Indonesia, these two huge countries, they suffered a lot in terms of victims among local people. But concerning the industry as a tourism industry, it's not so severe, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Indonesia and the eastern coast of India are not the most important destinations for international visitors. For Indonesia, it's Bali (ph), it's Longbak (ph), it's Java (ph). So, definite areas...

COSTELLO: Yes. And those areas were not affected so much. But I guess the big problem is with all of the pictures that people are seeing, there is a fear factor there in how do you get people to go back even to areas not affected by the tsunamis.

FRANGIALLI: Exactly. And I would say this is my major message today. Many destinations in Asia in general and in these countries in particular are totally untouched and safe. So, it's important, you know, that international visitors don't stop traveling to Asia. Of course, it's important that they get from government sources or from their travel agent precise and accurate information about the material condition of the health situation.

But it would have a second blow to these countries to stop visiting these destinations, which are either not affected at all or which shall be recovering in a short while.

COSTELLO: I understand. Francesco Frangialli, the secretary- general of the U.N.'s World Tourism Organization, joining DAYBREAK this morning. Thank you so much.

And you are watching DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We're going to take a look at the morning headlines this morning. And something that we haven't been talking about too much this morning, Chad, is the actor Jerry Orbach has died.

MYERS: Yes. Sixty-nine years old, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, it came as such a shock, because he was going to start a new show, "Trial by Jury," part of the "Law & Order" series. And he actually taped two or three episodes. And everybody thought he was recovering. In fact, he was doing quite well.

MYERS: It was prostate cancer, right?

COSTELLO: Yes, prostate cancer. It took him a long time to recover. MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: But, as I said, and according to "The New York Times," it seemed like he was handling the therapy well. He even found the energy to play some golf. And then all of a sudden he died. So, a very sad story there this morning, because, you know...

MYERS: It's especially sad around the holidays for family members, too.

COSTELLO: I know. One of my very favorite actors.

From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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Aired December 30, 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: A false alarm and widespread panic. About five hours ago, India's home ministry issued a new tsunami warning. People were told to move away from the coastlines. The warning was for the southern state of Tamil Nadu. No major seismic activity had been reported in the area, though, but that did not stop people who have already been through one horrific event from reacting in absolute panic.
CNN correspondent Ram Ramgopal is there. He joins us now to clarify what's happening there.

Hello.

RAM RAMGOPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

In fact, there has been no official withdrawal of that warning, although one of the senior ministers in India's government had a news conference just a short time ago, saying that despite any warnings, that relief work should continue in the stricken areas, that there should not be certainly a cause for people to want to leave town.

I think he was referring to some non-governmental organizations working in this part of India, in the southern part of India, and some of that is state, who reportedly left as soon as they heard about this warning, partly because the police told them that they had to leave.

Now, the warning, according to some people, was also overstated, because what it was is that some weather office indicated that there is a possibility of tsunamis in a sort of unmentioned future period. They're basically saying that aftershocks could continue.

So, there was a little bit of confusion as to whether that meant an immediate tsunami warning, but that was not the case -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, but, Ron, they said that that tsunami was going to strike in 20 minutes. It seems like that was a really big mistake that caused unnecessary panic.

RAMGOPAL: Which would appear to so, Carol, because certainly there was no event. But at the same time, perhaps the Indian government has also said that, you know, they don't to underplay any warnings that they might receive. In fact, one of the ministries in the Indian government said that they had received word from a foreign government, perhaps Australia, about some seismic activity, and that they were acting on that information. So, the government says that it was doing what it had to do to warn people. But at the same time, it would appear that if this was a false alarm, in fact many people here have now gone back to the seashores and the relief work is resuming.

COSTELLO: Ron Ramgopal from Tamil Nadu, live this morning. Thank you.

A power conference call last night, officials from the United States, Japan, Australia and India trying to coordinate relief efforts for tsunami victims. In the meantime, members of Congress are trying to come up with the money.

Our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, joins us live from Washington with more.

Good morning -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

As you can imagine, of course, President Bush, who emerged from his Crawford ranch yesterday -- this was about four days after this tsunami disaster -- he pledged, of course, his long-term support for the region, and really bristled at suggestions that the U.S. was not responding adequately enough.

He announced that that $35 million that was pledged in aid is really just the beginning, that he has reached out to world leaders, making phone calls to the leaders of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia, asking them what their most pressing needs are. And he also said he's going to be forming this regional group with other countries, you know, Japan, India, Australia, to try and help coordinate these relief efforts.

And he really took issue with the comment that was made by a U.N. relief worker that, in fact, that the country was stingy.

COSTELLO: Suzanne, though, what was the reason, the real reason, behind the fact that the president didn't appear in public until four days after this disaster?

MALVEAUX: Well, aides say that the president wanted to wait before speaking publicly, so he could give more specifics about what the United States was ready and willing to offer, that certainly they were coordinating efforts behind the scenes. There were State Department officials who had been burning up the phones and trying to coordinate with the Pentagon in terms of how they could get those supplies as quickly as possible.

It is interesting to note, however, Carol, that you talk about, you know, the money and where is this money going to come from. And this really has already sparked debate among lawmakers, who haven't even come back from their recess about what are they going to do here.

Just to put these numbers in context, you're talking about $35 million in aid pledged for this tsunami disaster. Now, Congress approved $13 billion for U.S. hurricane relief just this past year.

Now, nobody expects that this number is going to climb to anything that comes even close to that, but some of the things that they're talking about is possibly putting or adding more relief for the tsunami aid in a supplemental that's attached, you know, to an Iraq package or using perhaps part of the money that hasn't been used for Iraq reconstruction and diverting it to aid for Southeast Asia.

COSTELLO: Interesting. I know some Democrats have already come out and said that or suggested that idea. We're going to talk about that in just a bit. Thank you, Suzanne Malveaux.

As we've been saying, there are some who say the president took too long to speak out about this crisis. It seemed insensitive, they said, that the American president didn't step up to express his sorrow and to deliver a massive amount of aid.

Well, he did step up yesterday. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Take, for example, in the year 2004, our government provided $2.4 billion in food and cash and humanitarian relief to cover the disasters for last year. That's $2.4 billion. That's 40 percent of all the relief aid given in the world last year was provided by the United States' government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well, was this another blown chance to improve the image of Americans abroad? Or were Colin Powell's appearances on behalf of the president enough?

Let's head live back to Washington and our political analyst, Ron Brownstein.

Good morning -- Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK. There are many who are saying this was the chance for America to show its generosity, to restore its battered image. Is it?

BROWNSTEIN: I think the chance is still there. Look, the answer is that the president probably did wait too long. Sometimes the president has sort of a tin ear or almost a willful indifference to international opinion, but I'm not sure it's going to matter that much in the long run.

In an event of this magnitude, deeds matter more than words. And we are going to be judged by our ultimate effort in helping to combat this awful tragedy.

COSTELLO: Surely more aid is to come. Democrats are already suggesting that -- well, I'm going to read you a quote from Vermont Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy. He says: "We spend $35 million before breakfast in Iraq." And he's suggesting that a portion of the largely unspent 18 billion for Iraq reconstruction be redirected for Asian relief efforts.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first of all, I think the president has been very clear, and everyone in the administration has been clear, that the 35 million they've talked about so far is really just the front edge of what is going to probably be a commitment measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. If you think that they're talking about a range right now -- it may grow -- of $2 billion total in international commitments the U.S. often provides about 20 percent of worldwide foreign aid. And I think we could be looking at something, you know, in the mid-hundreds of millions.

Now, the next question is: Where do you come up with that money? The administration has already been up on Capitol Hill talking about supplemental appropriations. Obviously, there is only so much you can move around money, so they're going to need some new money.

Democrats will argue for shifting this from Iraq. I'm not sure where Republicans will be on that. We have a very big national deficit right now. Another half a billion dollars will pretty much be a rounding error.

COSTELLO: In some ways, though, isn't our government stuck between a rock and a hard place? Because, you know -- I mean, sending money there to aid the victims is one thing, but it really is a chance to bolter America's image over there.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COSTELLO: And that's really important.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, and that is. And I think that's why -- I think in the end, you will see a very robust effort from the U.S. government. I mean, American officials understand that especially in the wake of Iraq we are facing a great deal of opinion around the world that we are (UNINTELLIGIBLE) toward military might as a way of pursuing our goals in the world. And this is an important opportunity in a tragic way to show that we can meet other needs, and particularly when you're dealing with a country like Indonesia with a large Muslim population.

So, I do think they understand the stakes here, and especially since the U.N. officials have raised the broader issue of whether the rich nations, including the United States, are providing enough foreign aid more broadly, not only the disaster relief that the president specifically spoke about yesterday, but development aid. And, you know, on that debate, there are very different points of view as well.

I would just add on that front, and perhaps on the relief front as well, there's an interesting development. The president has been pushing something he calls the Millennium Challenge Account, which tries to tie foreign aid more closely to results in the receiving countries -- good governance, rooting out corruption, ensuring that money gets to the people.

I would suspect that this could be an opportunity to advance some of those same principles and ensure that as we move beyond the relief into the reconstruction, that countries that are receiving the aid are making sure that those who get the help are the most needy rather than the most connected.

COSTELLO: Ron Brownstein live from Washington. Thanks for your input this morning.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Another note...

BROWNSTEIN: Happy New Year to you.

COSTELLO: Another note about the criticism the United States is facing about the amount of aid it's doling out to South Asia, we posed a question to our viewers earlier this morning about whether the U.S. should send aid.

Hundreds e-mailed back saying things like this: Edwin from Virginia writes: "America is great. It does have a relative obligation to assist other countries who are in need. However, who will help America when it is in need? Throughout this globe, everyone hates Americans. Yet, whenever those who hate us need money or assistance, everything changes. Who helped America during the 9/11 and Florida hurricane disasters? I don't think we, America, need to start footing the bill for the tsunami disaster. The country where this disaster took place has the primary obligation to assist its inhabitants since it collects taxes from them."

And, you know, that, frankly, surprised us, because we got a lot of e-mails just like that, especially in light of the outpouring of generosity we've seen across the country. In a matter of hours, Amazon.com raised a million bucks online. The Christian Children's Fund in Richmond was surprised to get a $10,000 check. And the Red Cross has been flooded with donations.

So, joining us live from the Christian Children's Fund is Betty Forbes.

Good morning, Betty.

BETTY FORBES, V.P., CHRISTIAN CHILDREN'S FUND: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Tell us about the generosity of Americans.

FORBES: Well, Christian Children's Fund has always been fortunate to have very generous supporters, who always step forward financially whenever there are children in crisis. But this time, where there is such widespread devastation and loss of life, we have been overwhelmed by our telephone contributions from individuals, businesses and civic organizations, who don't normally give to international causes. These gifts range anywhere from $5 to one single gift of more than $300,000 just the day before yesterday. And at our headquarters in Richmond, people are stopping by and, as you mentioned, leaving a check for as much as $10,000 and giving that level of donations over the telephone as well. We have not seen such an outpouring of generosity since the 9/11 tragedy here in the U.S.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, Betty, I'm wondering why we've been getting so many e-mails from viewers saying that, you know, we maybe shouldn't send so much money to South Asia, because we have problems of our own.

FORBES: I really don't know, because we believe and have believed for many years since we've been in operation for 66 years that people do truly believe that they are citizens of the world. And when a neighbor is need, whether it is a neighbor next door or halfway around the world, caring people are going to respond. And this morning on your program you heard a gentleman ask for milk for the children, that they needed the milk.

This time, Carol, we're not only delivering water, food, blankets, the basic necessities to keep people going, but we are delivering the baby bottles along with the milk. These people have nothing. Everything they have has been snatched away from them in less than an hour. If you can just put a visual on that, I think any caring human being is going to want to do whatever they can.

COSTELLO: Betty, Chad has a question for you.

FORBES: OK.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Ms. Forbes, I'm getting so many e-mails here with people literally individually wanting to donate. But they don't want to give their money to somebody or some organization that's going to take 60 percent for administrative costs. Let me -- what are your administrative costs? And what are maybe some of the other places they can donate that's not going to take 30-40 percent for administrative costs? What are some of the best places to give?

FORBES: Well, we are very pleased to report that we send over 80 cents out of every single dollar to the field for services for children. I think you will see that same kind of approach with the American Red Cross as well. People do need to be very, very cautious. They need to check out the credibility of any organization that they're going to give to.

They also need to find out how long an organization has worked in any one of these countries, how fast they can mobilize volunteers, as well as staff, on the ground. They need to know what the impact of their dollar will be.

MYERS: OK.

FORBES: I think if we can answer that question, they will get a better comfort level with making their donations to any organization. COSTELLO: Well, Betty, we hope the donations continue to pour into your organization. And thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

FORBES: Thank you for having us.

COSTELLO: Betty Forbes.

Relief efforts are under way in all areas affected by the tsunami. But much more help is needed.

Let's go now live to "AMERICAN MORNING's" Heidi Collins.

Good morning -- Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Carol.

And, yes, that's right. I mean, the need is so great that there are so many questions about how to get that aid to these people. So, we're going to talk with U.N. emergency relief coordinator Yan Anglin (ph). What is the biggest challenge in getting relief to the needy now? And how do you get it there when the local infrastructure, like roads, are basically gone? As many as five million people now could be at risk for survival.

Also, what does he have to say about international relief efforts so far? Earlier this week, you may remember some criticism toward him, saying that Western countries are stingy. So, we're going to get his reaction to that and his thoughts now on the whole situation there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, we've been talking a lot about that this morning ourselves, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, you sure have.

COSTELLO: We'll catch you in 20 minutes. Thank you.

It was a playground for the wealthy, an exotic resort locale. What is the future of the tourist industry in the area hit hard by the tsunami? We'll take a look after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:47 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

India issues a new tsunami warning, triggering panic across South Asia. No tsunamis occurred, but there was a minor earthquake this morning around Indonesia's Sumatra Island.

A church fire has forced about 100 people from their homes in Philadelphia this morning. The Sharin (ph) Baptist Church in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood caught fire nearly three hours ago. No injuries were reported. A shelter has been set up at a nearby elementary school. No word on what caused this fire. In money news, McDonald's Corporation is considering requiring its chicken suppliers to use more humane slaughter methods. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claims some chickens are now scalded to death.

In culture, in the past few years more than 1,200 schools have stopped serving children milk in paper cartons. School officials say when the milk is in plastic bottles, more kids drink it.

In sports, Cleveland's LeBron James collided with Houston's Dikembe Mutombo and left the game in the first half. James suffered a bruised bone in his face. Houston won the game. Would that not be terrible for Cleveland if LeBron James was out?

MYERS: That would be pricey, wouldn't it?

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: You know, I'm just reading our e-mails coming in about our question: Is the United States doing enough to help out in South Asia?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: And people are fired up about this issue. Six hundred e-mails.

MYERS: Wow!

COSTELLO: Just within the last 45 minutes.

MYERS: Yes, and it's black and white. And you know what? A lot of Canadians are chirping in this morning, too, because their government chimed in, like, $40 million, too. So, they really want to let us know that they did something good up there, too. So...

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Well, we have to point out that the president said this $35 million figure is just the beginning.

MYERS: Well, sure.

COSTELLO: And that America will probably be giving much more over the days and weeks to come.

MYERS: Well, it's a huge tragedy.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. And we'll be following it.

MYERS: What is that? Eleven cents per person or something like that?

COSTELLO: Right now with the 35 million, yes. Yes.

We have been hearing about some amazing survivor stories all morning. Rick Sanchez will have more on "AMERICAN MORNING." Rick has a preview now.

Good morning.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. As a matter of fact, this really is a story about people, how people react in situations when they're faced with something like this, a tragedy of this magnitude.

We're going to be talking to two families who survived the tsunami, not by running away, interestingly enough, from the water, but by staying in the water. The parents were scuba diving at the time. The kids were snorkeling. All of them, we're happy to say, survived. What did they see underwater as the tsunami was going over them? What was the most frightening part of it? And how did they know that the safest place to be during the tsunami was underwater, to actually stay there and not come up? Despite the fact they didn't really know what was going on, they seemed to have an instinct.

We'll tell you their story right here on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Carol -- back over to you.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Rick.

Tourism in South Asia is paradise lost. Coming up next, we'll take a closer look at the loss of tourist dollars, just when those countries desperately need money. DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now let's switch from the human toll of the tsunamis to the economic impact. Hotels and resorts were devastated along the once pristine coastlines. The tourism industry will lose hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

Joining us to talk about the effect on tourism is Francesco Frangialli. He's secretary-general of the U.N.'s World Tourism Organization.

Good morning to you.

FRANCESCO FRANGIALLI, SECRETARY-GENERAL, WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Tell us how important tourism is to that part of the world.

FRANGIALLI: It's a very important part of the world (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is concerned. And in the recent months, this region, Southeast Asia, has been the most vibrant and dynamic part of the world, strongly recuperating from the 2003 (UNINTELLIGIBLE) epidemic.

Just a few figures: In 2003, six countries which have been the most affected by the tsunami received some 30 million international visitors. The figure should be close to 40 million in 2004. And these visitors spent some $25 billion of U.S. dollars.

So, it's an important region, and it has been the real engine of tourism worldwide in the past months.

COSTELLO: You know, we see the pictures of the devastation there and the damage. But some hotels remain unscathed. Is that right?

FRANGIALLI: Yes. What I would like to say is that, first of all, all of the destinations were not affected in the tsunami. And within the countries themselves, the situation is very, very diverse.

You know, for instance, if we look at India and Indonesia, these two huge countries, they suffered a lot in terms of victims among local people. But concerning the industry as a tourism industry, it's not so severe, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Indonesia and the eastern coast of India are not the most important destinations for international visitors. For Indonesia, it's Bali (ph), it's Longbak (ph), it's Java (ph). So, definite areas...

COSTELLO: Yes. And those areas were not affected so much. But I guess the big problem is with all of the pictures that people are seeing, there is a fear factor there in how do you get people to go back even to areas not affected by the tsunamis.

FRANGIALLI: Exactly. And I would say this is my major message today. Many destinations in Asia in general and in these countries in particular are totally untouched and safe. So, it's important, you know, that international visitors don't stop traveling to Asia. Of course, it's important that they get from government sources or from their travel agent precise and accurate information about the material condition of the health situation.

But it would have a second blow to these countries to stop visiting these destinations, which are either not affected at all or which shall be recovering in a short while.

COSTELLO: I understand. Francesco Frangialli, the secretary- general of the U.N.'s World Tourism Organization, joining DAYBREAK this morning. Thank you so much.

And you are watching DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We're going to take a look at the morning headlines this morning. And something that we haven't been talking about too much this morning, Chad, is the actor Jerry Orbach has died.

MYERS: Yes. Sixty-nine years old, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, it came as such a shock, because he was going to start a new show, "Trial by Jury," part of the "Law & Order" series. And he actually taped two or three episodes. And everybody thought he was recovering. In fact, he was doing quite well.

MYERS: It was prostate cancer, right?

COSTELLO: Yes, prostate cancer. It took him a long time to recover. MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: But, as I said, and according to "The New York Times," it seemed like he was handling the therapy well. He even found the energy to play some golf. And then all of a sudden he died. So, a very sad story there this morning, because, you know...

MYERS: It's especially sad around the holidays for family members, too.

COSTELLO: I know. One of my very favorite actors.

From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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