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Indonesia Suffering Largest Human Loss From Tsunamis; Relentless Series of Storms Rambles Across California, Nevada and Arizona
Aired December 31, 2004 - 07:00 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Banda Aceh six months ago. Banda Aceh today. Today the Indonesia's death toll could go beyond 100,000.
The first U.S. aid arriving to tsunami victims. Ahead, the White House, ready to lead the relief effort.
And at home, security in the skies. Ahead, another incident of a laser beam in a cockpit. Homeland security looking for a connection on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good Friday morning. Good New Year's Eve day to you. I'm Heidi Collins. Bill and Soledad are off today.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Rick Sanchez. We will bring you all the information taking place on the tsunami situation, including the situation in Southern Asia.
COLLINS: That's right. In fact, Southern Asia is just hours away from the dawn of a new year. That means little to a region reeling from global catastrophe. Six days after disaster struck, thousands more are dead. The threat of disease is growing for survivors. Here is what we now know.
The total death toll stands at more than 135,000 people. Over half of those are in Indonesia alone. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Florida Governor Jeb Bush, brother of the president, will head to the region Sunday to assess humanitarian needs. The State Department says thousands of Americans remain unaccounted for. And 14 Americans are confirmed dead.
The U.N. says the total amount of aid pledged is $500 million, but that more is needed.
SANCHEZ: This is the focal point in the last 24 hours, the devastation on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra. It's becoming alarmingly clear as seen in photos taken before and after the disaster. This is a satellite image of Banda Aceh, that is at the island's northern tip, just before the massive waves hit.
This is what it looked like after. The city was just 60 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake. Indonesian officials are saying nearly 80,000 people have died in that region.
Indonesia is the nation suffering the largest human loss from the tsunamis. Many areas are too remote, or too devastated to be reached. Atika Shubert is in Medan, it is on the Island of Sumatra, where as many as half of the city's residents have been lost. She is joining us live via videophone.
Atika, start us off.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via videophone): Rick, I'm actually in Medon, which is the coordination center for reaching the west coast of Aceh, which has been completely cut off from the rest of the world.
In the last two days, we have been fortunate enough to get in there with a private plane. Some of the first people to be there and see, in some cases, devastation, in some cases hope.
One of the islands we visited today was the closest to the epicenter, just 30 miles away, it survived intact, with only six people killed. That certainly is amazing considering how close it was.
In other areas, however, the news is grim. There has been complete devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHUBERT (voice over): To understand the level of devastation here, see it from the air. More than 80 percent of the structures destroyed. Because of its location, this was the first area to be hit, because of its isolation it was the last to receive help.
We flew in with two private planes that hoped to deliver food and water by being the first to land on the last one-quarter of the town's airstrip still intact. It was close, but they made it.
There are few words to describe the total devastation on the ground, multi-story buildings reduced to cement foundations. Markets, schools, demolished. Bodies swell in the baking sun. Death toll estimates are anywhere between 10,000 to 20,000, sparking fears that anywhere between a quarter to one-half of the town's population may have been killed.
This survivor was so bewildered, so desperate, he turned to visiting journalists for comfort.
"Everything is gone," this man cries, "All my children are gone."
Aid is finally trickling in by sea and by air. Now that pilots know they can safely land on the damaged airstrip, more will come. An army helicopter has arrived with aid and a navy ship unloads supplies in the harbor.
Because of the insurgency there were already a lot of military personnel in the region. They are the only infrastructure left; everything else has been destroyed.
Soldiers distribute what they can despite dwindling fuel supplies. They, too, have been hard hit, hundreds of their colleagues missing, believed dead. Many of their wives and children gone. But the biggest surprise in this isolated and decimate town, is the will to survive. Surrounded by death and destruction, with little or no aid from outside up 'til now, survivors still manage to pick through what is left, looking for anything that will help them to carry on -- Atika Shubert, CNN, Malabo, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AKITA: Rick, one of the reasons why the town of Malabo which you just saw was so badly hit, is that is very close to the epicenter. It was hit first by the earthquake, which cut off communications and ruined its roads, and its airstrip. And then the tsunami wave which killed thousands.
The town Malabo, itself, completely devastated, but just a few miles away was the island of Sumulu (ph), which fortunately, because villagers there knew a tsunami was likely, managed to flee to the hills, and therefore most of those islanders survived. So, tales of both devastation and hope in the west coast of Aceh -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Atika, I'm interested in particular that gentleman who was in your report, who seemed like he was crying and talking about how he missed his family. How many people like him are there out there? Do you run into them? What do they say to you? What do you say to them?
ATIKA: It's really incredible being out here. You can't help but run into these people. Certainly in towns like Malabo, or Aceh it seems that just about every resident there has lost a loved one. Even in towns outside of Aceh, you find plenty of people who are still missing relatives there.
Frankly, there is not a lot you can say to them. You feel terrible, you feel horrible. When you see these landscapes of devastation, you are at a loss for words. The only thing you can do is sympathize with them, and quite often cry when they cry, too.
SANCHEZ: I tell you, the expression on his face really does seem to tell the story.
Atika Shubert, thank you very much for bringing us up to date on that situation there. We will check back with you, in Indonesia, throughout the day.
Heidi.
COLLINS: Let's check on the stories "Now in the News" with Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
Daryn, good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Heidi, good morning.
"Now in the News", a CNN security watch, more incidents of laser beams are being directed into the cockpits of airplanes. The FBI is looking into the latest report from the Teeterborough airport in New Jersey.
The pilot says three lasers were pointed into his cockpit on Wednesday night. According to officials, that brings the number to seven incidents in recent days. All the aircraft did land safely. The FBI has warned that terrorists may use lasers trying to bring down planes.
In Argentina, at least 175 people have been killed after a fire broke out in a Buenos Aires nightclub. Witnesses say there was a stampede to the exit doors once the fire broke out; as many as 5,000 people may have been inside the building. No word yet on what started the blaze.
The woman accused of strangling a pregnant woman and snatching her baby is staying behind bars for now. Lisa Montgomery appeared yesterday at a detention hearing in Kansas City, Missouri. Federal prosecutors have 30 days to present the case to a grand jury to decide if there is enough evidence to formally charge her with kidnapping resulting in death.
And former pin-up model, Anna Nicole Smith has been stripped of her millions. A federal appeals court yesterday reversed a ruling that awards the 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year more than $88 million from her late husband's estate. The money will go to Smith's stepson. Smith is expected to appeal.
Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: Oh, not appeal -- to -- well, you know...
(LAUGHTER)
KAGAN: Right. She did appeal, that's how she got the money in the first place. That's another story.
COLLINS: Yes, this is true. It goes on. Daryn, thanks. We'll check back a little later on with you.
A relentless series of storms rambled across California, Nevada and Arizona. As Rusty Dornin reports, this morning some people are hard at work digging out of snow and cleaning up after flash floods.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The rains came, and the snow fell, and it keeps on falling. A series of slow- rolling storms is hammering the Western states. Near Sedona, Arizona, hundreds were evacuated at the creek flooded resorts, an RV park, and a dozen neighborhoods.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's kind of frightening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Mother Nature gone insane.
DORNIN: In the Sierra Nevada, blizzard-like conditions at one point closed every pass through California's main mountain range. Travelers to Lake Tahoe and Reno were told to head back from where they came, creating massive gridlock on Interstate 80.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unfortunately, the weather has gone from worse to miserable, so we had to close it again.
DORNIN: As winds topping more than 130 miles per hour wiped the mountain tops, many ski resorts were forced to close lifts. Four to seven feet of snow is expected to fall.
To the south, pounding rain and high winds hit Los Angeles and San Diego counties causing widespread power outages and snapping off 170 feet of a radio tower. Bits and pieces of the tower hit several cars below.
There was flash flooding in some areas of San Diego County. A motorist had to be rescued from raging waters that swamped his van. All making Western residents fret about just what the New Year may bring -- Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And this morning, blizzard conditions forced the California highway patrol to close highway 80 in the Sierra foothills. What a great time to check on the forecast. Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with the very latest on all of this.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
SANCHEZ: A Wisconsin couple finally makes it home after a painful week in Thailand. They were at sea when crystal clear waters turned into murky shades of brown. They were never (AUDIO GAP) of what they saw next.
COLLINS: And America -- the stingy? The U.S. earmarks millions for tsunami relief, but are the critics right when they say we should be doing more? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You had no idea really where to go to find your son. Tell us how all of that went down.
Looks like we are having a little bit of difficulty, as you can imagine. We are getting that signal straight from Phuket, Thailand. So, we are going to try to check back in with the Aleos (ph) and get their story.
Happened here live on our air last night during Anderson Cooper's show. It's pretty incredible. We will get it to you as soon as we can.
SANCHEZ: Part of the controversy is the $35 million figure that we heard so much about. Andrew Natsios is the director of USAID, the man responsible for some of the relief aid being coordinated by U.S. officials.
We got a chance to talk to him about that specific money, whether he thinks it will go up, and what he thinks specifically of the criticism that the agency has been receiving.
ANDREW NATSIOS, ADMINISTRATOR, USAID: It's kind of an irrelevant discussion. We spent $16 million of the $35 million we pledged. As soon as we get up to the $35 we will make other pledges.
Right now, all I want to make sure is all my people in the field, the U.S. military in the field, the State Department have enough money, as soon as we spend it, we will make more pledges.
SANCHEZ: Boy, it does seem --
NATSIOS: I think focusing on numbers is not the important question. Earlier in the week we assumed that all of the four countries that were most severely hit, India, Sri Lanka , Thailand and Indonesia were equally affected.
The assessments that are coming back now show we have made a miss calculation in the earlier estimates. It appears Aceh, in Indonesia, is far worse than all other countries combined. We now have to reallocate not only funding but also staff and the supplies that are coming in to the areas that are most severely affected.
We are now getting into some areas of Aceh which nobody touched for four days because there is a civil war going on there.
SANCHEZ: Let's talk about some of the people who are critical of this, one of them is Senator Patrick Leahy, he is saying, in fact, this -- I will let you hear it for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, (D) VERMONT: No, it has been slow response. It has not been the response this country is capable of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He goes on to say, in fact, that he thinks, when he first heard the information that it was just way, way, way too small a figure. Your reaction to his?
NATSIOS: Well, I don't think it's relevant what the figure is. It's irrelevant how fast we can spend the money. The money was committed on Sunday when the emergency took place. I came back from church, we had already mobilized our DART Team, we had already mobilized the Response Coordination Unit in Washington, the teams had been sent out.
How much money you pledge or don't pledge is not relevant. What is relevant is how much money you need on the ground right now, to spend it. We are doing that.
We have not even spent the $35 million and neither have other agencies. The pledges are not what is relevant. It's action on the ground that is needed. We will get more than enough money from the president and I'm sure from Congress later on, when we need it. The big cost of these things, in fact, is not the relief response. The big cost of all emergencies, particularly in natural disasters of this kind, is in the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase. And 90 percent of the cost actually will be after the first month in doing the rehabilitation.
SANCHEZ: So, you're saying ...
NATSIOS: The relief response earlier on is actually the least expensive of all of this.
SANCHEZ: So, do I hear you saying then that these figures, whatever they are right now, be it $35 million, or whatever it ends up, will eventually grow as the need grows?
NATSIOS: Oh, absolutely. We said when we made this announcement that this was only the initial fund for our staff in the field, as other countries have done the same thing for their emergency managers. We never in any emergency, I've been doing this for 15 years all over the world, both in the NGO community and in AID, we never make our initial pledge as the whole thing.
SANCHEZ: Can you give us a sense by how much it will grow? And the reason I ask is because some are saying -- in fact, look, there's an editorial in "The New York Times," that I'm sure you've read. And I'll quote it for you.
It says, "$35 million remains a miserly drop in the bucket and is in keeping with the pitiful amount of the U.S. budget that we allocate for nonmilitary foreign aid. According to a poll, most Americans believe the U.S. spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries. It actually spends well under a quarter of 1 percent." Their editorial, your response?
NATSIOS: The United States is the most generous donor in the world to humanitarian relief. Last year, 40 percent of all humanitarian relief -- in the world, by governments -- was provided by the United States government, $2.4 billion. That is not miserly. And 40 percent of the whole world total is not miserly.
In fact, 60 percent of all food delivered last year in humanitarian relief emergencies, famine, civil wars, natural disasters, came from the United States government. My agency is the one that distributed it. Sixty percent is miserly?
I think "The New York Times" and other people who are being critical simply need to do their research. Many of them are really not familiar with emergency operations and disaster relief.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Andrew Natsios, administrator of USAID, speaking to us about some of these relief efforts and some criticism that has been leveled his way. For a full list of aid organizations in need of donations, go to our website at CNN.com. We will have a full segment on how you can do this later on in this broadcast. Heidi?
COLLINS: New Year's Eve celebrations could be a tempting target for terrorists. Extraordinary security measures are in place for New York's big bash. Mayor Michael Bloomberg tells us what he's heard from Homeland Security officials. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Images of devastation and grief have prompted an outpouring of support and compassion from people around the world. In Sri Lanka, where more than 41,000 people have died, the story of one vacationing family, who decided to stay back and use their medical training to treat tsunami victims. CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us now from Doden Goda (ph), Sri Lanka.
Sanjay, hello.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good evening from Sri Lanka.
Listen, it is New Year's Eve here in Sri Lanka. We are at one of the displacement camps, about 3,000 people here displaced from the nearby coast. You can hear some music. Some festivities actually going to begin here. Some will go on despite the recent tragedy.
We have heard stories, Heidi, about foreigners, about tourists. Some of the best stories, we think, are about those who decided to stay.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice over): At a time when many tourists and vacationers have vividly recounted their stories of survival and loss, one family can tell the story of their own personal relief effort.
DR. W.T. MAHASWARAN (ph), VOLUNTEER DOCTOR: Well, we come from UK, from holiday, and then we had to cut short our holiday because of the things that happened here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The two of us have never had anything like this before. First, you are just in shock. And then you think, well, OK, you're not in the mood to travel around and do holiday stuff anymore. And so you just try to do something (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MAHASWARAN (ph): Today, we have visited five camps and treat roughly about 400 patients.
GUPTA: The Mahaswaran (ph) family emigrated to the UK years ago. But it managed to return to beautiful Sri Lanka for holiday every few years. As the entire world now knows, this trip was different. Father W.T. had been a medical doctor for more than 40 years. Dr. Danutia (ph) is 24 years old and had just graduated from medical school.
MAHASWARAN (ph): We heard about this on the radio. We were traveling. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were here at the right time. We feel like we should be able to do something. So we couldn't leave, really.
GUPTA: Vivia is 20 years old and in her third year of medical school. The Mahaswaran (ph) doctors have joined the handful of Sri Lankan doctors to are in their native country to offer their services.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every single day you turn the TV on, and the death toll is higher than even 10 minutes ago. We are quite lucky.
(CROSS TALK)
GUPTA (on camera): You feel like you did some good here?
MAHASWARAN (ph): Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. It's nice to feel like we have done something.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: I'll tell you, Heidi, most of what we are seeing here typically has to do with cholera, dysentery, those are the concerns. A lot of medications that have not come in yet, we are seeing plenty of clean water and safe food. Still need to get some of those medications in to be able to take care of the thousands of people in the displaced camps.
COLLINS: Sanjay, it is such a great story watching these people bring their own talents to the area to help make a difference there. Are you seeing that sort of mind set coming from a lot of people who end up coming there to help?
GUPTA: You know, it's really remarkable. To talk about the types of tragedies these people had to endure recently. First the tsunami, then the loss of loved ones. Most people here either widows or orphans, subsequently having to identify the bodies of loved ones. But they are here and they are getting a lot of outpouring of help from Sri Lanka itself.
Heidi, it took some time for foreign aid to get here, so the natives of Sri Lanka had to sort of take care of their own.
What I will tell you, if you look at the camps like this, the most gravely injured are now being transported to hospitals in bigger cities, like Colombo. What you see here mainly is more minor ailments, cuts that need antibiotics, respiratory infections, diarrhea, concerning to be sure.
This particular camp, for example, about 3,000 people, there are only three bathrooms. So, there is, obviously, concerns about unsanitary conditions, but you are starting to see some action, you are starting to see some movement. Things do seem like they're improving at least here south of Sri Lanka.
COLLINS: That's great new. In fact, we do see some activity directly behind you, Sanjay. What is going on there?
GUPTA: It's interesting, if you take a look behind me, this shelter place over here, that's one of the only shelters that actually houses most of the 3,000 people, mats are inside there, lots of clothing has been donated. What is going on in there is a little bit of festivity today.
We didn't know what to expect on New Year's Eve here in Sri Lanka considering the recent events, but a little bit of festivity here at this Buddhist temple. You know, we will sort of wait it out and see what happens here tonight. It does appear that people seem to be in pretty good spirits actually, Heidi.
COLLINS: Boy, that is fantastic. I never imagined we would be seeing any sort of celebration whatsoever there. So, a little bit of positivity, if you will.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta coming to us from Doden Goda (ph), Sri Lanka, thanks.
SANCHEZ: It makes those of us over here want to see if we can help in anyway we can. But, you know, we want to, but how do you do it? Who do you give it to? How to you give it to them? What do you give them? A lot of questions involved including this one -- how do you make sure you don't give to the wrong organization. There are scammers out there in situations like this.
We will have those answers for you coming up next.
Also a vacation turns into a nightmare for one Wisconsin couple trapped at sea in a speedboat. We will bring you their frightening story ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired December 31, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Banda Aceh six months ago. Banda Aceh today. Today the Indonesia's death toll could go beyond 100,000.
The first U.S. aid arriving to tsunami victims. Ahead, the White House, ready to lead the relief effort.
And at home, security in the skies. Ahead, another incident of a laser beam in a cockpit. Homeland security looking for a connection on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good Friday morning. Good New Year's Eve day to you. I'm Heidi Collins. Bill and Soledad are off today.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Rick Sanchez. We will bring you all the information taking place on the tsunami situation, including the situation in Southern Asia.
COLLINS: That's right. In fact, Southern Asia is just hours away from the dawn of a new year. That means little to a region reeling from global catastrophe. Six days after disaster struck, thousands more are dead. The threat of disease is growing for survivors. Here is what we now know.
The total death toll stands at more than 135,000 people. Over half of those are in Indonesia alone. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Florida Governor Jeb Bush, brother of the president, will head to the region Sunday to assess humanitarian needs. The State Department says thousands of Americans remain unaccounted for. And 14 Americans are confirmed dead.
The U.N. says the total amount of aid pledged is $500 million, but that more is needed.
SANCHEZ: This is the focal point in the last 24 hours, the devastation on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra. It's becoming alarmingly clear as seen in photos taken before and after the disaster. This is a satellite image of Banda Aceh, that is at the island's northern tip, just before the massive waves hit.
This is what it looked like after. The city was just 60 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake. Indonesian officials are saying nearly 80,000 people have died in that region.
Indonesia is the nation suffering the largest human loss from the tsunamis. Many areas are too remote, or too devastated to be reached. Atika Shubert is in Medan, it is on the Island of Sumatra, where as many as half of the city's residents have been lost. She is joining us live via videophone.
Atika, start us off.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via videophone): Rick, I'm actually in Medon, which is the coordination center for reaching the west coast of Aceh, which has been completely cut off from the rest of the world.
In the last two days, we have been fortunate enough to get in there with a private plane. Some of the first people to be there and see, in some cases, devastation, in some cases hope.
One of the islands we visited today was the closest to the epicenter, just 30 miles away, it survived intact, with only six people killed. That certainly is amazing considering how close it was.
In other areas, however, the news is grim. There has been complete devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHUBERT (voice over): To understand the level of devastation here, see it from the air. More than 80 percent of the structures destroyed. Because of its location, this was the first area to be hit, because of its isolation it was the last to receive help.
We flew in with two private planes that hoped to deliver food and water by being the first to land on the last one-quarter of the town's airstrip still intact. It was close, but they made it.
There are few words to describe the total devastation on the ground, multi-story buildings reduced to cement foundations. Markets, schools, demolished. Bodies swell in the baking sun. Death toll estimates are anywhere between 10,000 to 20,000, sparking fears that anywhere between a quarter to one-half of the town's population may have been killed.
This survivor was so bewildered, so desperate, he turned to visiting journalists for comfort.
"Everything is gone," this man cries, "All my children are gone."
Aid is finally trickling in by sea and by air. Now that pilots know they can safely land on the damaged airstrip, more will come. An army helicopter has arrived with aid and a navy ship unloads supplies in the harbor.
Because of the insurgency there were already a lot of military personnel in the region. They are the only infrastructure left; everything else has been destroyed.
Soldiers distribute what they can despite dwindling fuel supplies. They, too, have been hard hit, hundreds of their colleagues missing, believed dead. Many of their wives and children gone. But the biggest surprise in this isolated and decimate town, is the will to survive. Surrounded by death and destruction, with little or no aid from outside up 'til now, survivors still manage to pick through what is left, looking for anything that will help them to carry on -- Atika Shubert, CNN, Malabo, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AKITA: Rick, one of the reasons why the town of Malabo which you just saw was so badly hit, is that is very close to the epicenter. It was hit first by the earthquake, which cut off communications and ruined its roads, and its airstrip. And then the tsunami wave which killed thousands.
The town Malabo, itself, completely devastated, but just a few miles away was the island of Sumulu (ph), which fortunately, because villagers there knew a tsunami was likely, managed to flee to the hills, and therefore most of those islanders survived. So, tales of both devastation and hope in the west coast of Aceh -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Atika, I'm interested in particular that gentleman who was in your report, who seemed like he was crying and talking about how he missed his family. How many people like him are there out there? Do you run into them? What do they say to you? What do you say to them?
ATIKA: It's really incredible being out here. You can't help but run into these people. Certainly in towns like Malabo, or Aceh it seems that just about every resident there has lost a loved one. Even in towns outside of Aceh, you find plenty of people who are still missing relatives there.
Frankly, there is not a lot you can say to them. You feel terrible, you feel horrible. When you see these landscapes of devastation, you are at a loss for words. The only thing you can do is sympathize with them, and quite often cry when they cry, too.
SANCHEZ: I tell you, the expression on his face really does seem to tell the story.
Atika Shubert, thank you very much for bringing us up to date on that situation there. We will check back with you, in Indonesia, throughout the day.
Heidi.
COLLINS: Let's check on the stories "Now in the News" with Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
Daryn, good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Heidi, good morning.
"Now in the News", a CNN security watch, more incidents of laser beams are being directed into the cockpits of airplanes. The FBI is looking into the latest report from the Teeterborough airport in New Jersey.
The pilot says three lasers were pointed into his cockpit on Wednesday night. According to officials, that brings the number to seven incidents in recent days. All the aircraft did land safely. The FBI has warned that terrorists may use lasers trying to bring down planes.
In Argentina, at least 175 people have been killed after a fire broke out in a Buenos Aires nightclub. Witnesses say there was a stampede to the exit doors once the fire broke out; as many as 5,000 people may have been inside the building. No word yet on what started the blaze.
The woman accused of strangling a pregnant woman and snatching her baby is staying behind bars for now. Lisa Montgomery appeared yesterday at a detention hearing in Kansas City, Missouri. Federal prosecutors have 30 days to present the case to a grand jury to decide if there is enough evidence to formally charge her with kidnapping resulting in death.
And former pin-up model, Anna Nicole Smith has been stripped of her millions. A federal appeals court yesterday reversed a ruling that awards the 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year more than $88 million from her late husband's estate. The money will go to Smith's stepson. Smith is expected to appeal.
Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: Oh, not appeal -- to -- well, you know...
(LAUGHTER)
KAGAN: Right. She did appeal, that's how she got the money in the first place. That's another story.
COLLINS: Yes, this is true. It goes on. Daryn, thanks. We'll check back a little later on with you.
A relentless series of storms rambled across California, Nevada and Arizona. As Rusty Dornin reports, this morning some people are hard at work digging out of snow and cleaning up after flash floods.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The rains came, and the snow fell, and it keeps on falling. A series of slow- rolling storms is hammering the Western states. Near Sedona, Arizona, hundreds were evacuated at the creek flooded resorts, an RV park, and a dozen neighborhoods.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's kind of frightening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Mother Nature gone insane.
DORNIN: In the Sierra Nevada, blizzard-like conditions at one point closed every pass through California's main mountain range. Travelers to Lake Tahoe and Reno were told to head back from where they came, creating massive gridlock on Interstate 80.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unfortunately, the weather has gone from worse to miserable, so we had to close it again.
DORNIN: As winds topping more than 130 miles per hour wiped the mountain tops, many ski resorts were forced to close lifts. Four to seven feet of snow is expected to fall.
To the south, pounding rain and high winds hit Los Angeles and San Diego counties causing widespread power outages and snapping off 170 feet of a radio tower. Bits and pieces of the tower hit several cars below.
There was flash flooding in some areas of San Diego County. A motorist had to be rescued from raging waters that swamped his van. All making Western residents fret about just what the New Year may bring -- Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And this morning, blizzard conditions forced the California highway patrol to close highway 80 in the Sierra foothills. What a great time to check on the forecast. Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with the very latest on all of this.
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SANCHEZ: A Wisconsin couple finally makes it home after a painful week in Thailand. They were at sea when crystal clear waters turned into murky shades of brown. They were never (AUDIO GAP) of what they saw next.
COLLINS: And America -- the stingy? The U.S. earmarks millions for tsunami relief, but are the critics right when they say we should be doing more? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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COLLINS: You had no idea really where to go to find your son. Tell us how all of that went down.
Looks like we are having a little bit of difficulty, as you can imagine. We are getting that signal straight from Phuket, Thailand. So, we are going to try to check back in with the Aleos (ph) and get their story.
Happened here live on our air last night during Anderson Cooper's show. It's pretty incredible. We will get it to you as soon as we can.
SANCHEZ: Part of the controversy is the $35 million figure that we heard so much about. Andrew Natsios is the director of USAID, the man responsible for some of the relief aid being coordinated by U.S. officials.
We got a chance to talk to him about that specific money, whether he thinks it will go up, and what he thinks specifically of the criticism that the agency has been receiving.
ANDREW NATSIOS, ADMINISTRATOR, USAID: It's kind of an irrelevant discussion. We spent $16 million of the $35 million we pledged. As soon as we get up to the $35 we will make other pledges.
Right now, all I want to make sure is all my people in the field, the U.S. military in the field, the State Department have enough money, as soon as we spend it, we will make more pledges.
SANCHEZ: Boy, it does seem --
NATSIOS: I think focusing on numbers is not the important question. Earlier in the week we assumed that all of the four countries that were most severely hit, India, Sri Lanka , Thailand and Indonesia were equally affected.
The assessments that are coming back now show we have made a miss calculation in the earlier estimates. It appears Aceh, in Indonesia, is far worse than all other countries combined. We now have to reallocate not only funding but also staff and the supplies that are coming in to the areas that are most severely affected.
We are now getting into some areas of Aceh which nobody touched for four days because there is a civil war going on there.
SANCHEZ: Let's talk about some of the people who are critical of this, one of them is Senator Patrick Leahy, he is saying, in fact, this -- I will let you hear it for yourself.
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SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, (D) VERMONT: No, it has been slow response. It has not been the response this country is capable of.
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SANCHEZ: He goes on to say, in fact, that he thinks, when he first heard the information that it was just way, way, way too small a figure. Your reaction to his?
NATSIOS: Well, I don't think it's relevant what the figure is. It's irrelevant how fast we can spend the money. The money was committed on Sunday when the emergency took place. I came back from church, we had already mobilized our DART Team, we had already mobilized the Response Coordination Unit in Washington, the teams had been sent out.
How much money you pledge or don't pledge is not relevant. What is relevant is how much money you need on the ground right now, to spend it. We are doing that.
We have not even spent the $35 million and neither have other agencies. The pledges are not what is relevant. It's action on the ground that is needed. We will get more than enough money from the president and I'm sure from Congress later on, when we need it. The big cost of these things, in fact, is not the relief response. The big cost of all emergencies, particularly in natural disasters of this kind, is in the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase. And 90 percent of the cost actually will be after the first month in doing the rehabilitation.
SANCHEZ: So, you're saying ...
NATSIOS: The relief response earlier on is actually the least expensive of all of this.
SANCHEZ: So, do I hear you saying then that these figures, whatever they are right now, be it $35 million, or whatever it ends up, will eventually grow as the need grows?
NATSIOS: Oh, absolutely. We said when we made this announcement that this was only the initial fund for our staff in the field, as other countries have done the same thing for their emergency managers. We never in any emergency, I've been doing this for 15 years all over the world, both in the NGO community and in AID, we never make our initial pledge as the whole thing.
SANCHEZ: Can you give us a sense by how much it will grow? And the reason I ask is because some are saying -- in fact, look, there's an editorial in "The New York Times," that I'm sure you've read. And I'll quote it for you.
It says, "$35 million remains a miserly drop in the bucket and is in keeping with the pitiful amount of the U.S. budget that we allocate for nonmilitary foreign aid. According to a poll, most Americans believe the U.S. spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries. It actually spends well under a quarter of 1 percent." Their editorial, your response?
NATSIOS: The United States is the most generous donor in the world to humanitarian relief. Last year, 40 percent of all humanitarian relief -- in the world, by governments -- was provided by the United States government, $2.4 billion. That is not miserly. And 40 percent of the whole world total is not miserly.
In fact, 60 percent of all food delivered last year in humanitarian relief emergencies, famine, civil wars, natural disasters, came from the United States government. My agency is the one that distributed it. Sixty percent is miserly?
I think "The New York Times" and other people who are being critical simply need to do their research. Many of them are really not familiar with emergency operations and disaster relief.
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SANCHEZ: Andrew Natsios, administrator of USAID, speaking to us about some of these relief efforts and some criticism that has been leveled his way. For a full list of aid organizations in need of donations, go to our website at CNN.com. We will have a full segment on how you can do this later on in this broadcast. Heidi?
COLLINS: New Year's Eve celebrations could be a tempting target for terrorists. Extraordinary security measures are in place for New York's big bash. Mayor Michael Bloomberg tells us what he's heard from Homeland Security officials. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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COLLINS: Images of devastation and grief have prompted an outpouring of support and compassion from people around the world. In Sri Lanka, where more than 41,000 people have died, the story of one vacationing family, who decided to stay back and use their medical training to treat tsunami victims. CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us now from Doden Goda (ph), Sri Lanka.
Sanjay, hello.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good evening from Sri Lanka.
Listen, it is New Year's Eve here in Sri Lanka. We are at one of the displacement camps, about 3,000 people here displaced from the nearby coast. You can hear some music. Some festivities actually going to begin here. Some will go on despite the recent tragedy.
We have heard stories, Heidi, about foreigners, about tourists. Some of the best stories, we think, are about those who decided to stay.
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GUPTA (voice over): At a time when many tourists and vacationers have vividly recounted their stories of survival and loss, one family can tell the story of their own personal relief effort.
DR. W.T. MAHASWARAN (ph), VOLUNTEER DOCTOR: Well, we come from UK, from holiday, and then we had to cut short our holiday because of the things that happened here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The two of us have never had anything like this before. First, you are just in shock. And then you think, well, OK, you're not in the mood to travel around and do holiday stuff anymore. And so you just try to do something (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MAHASWARAN (ph): Today, we have visited five camps and treat roughly about 400 patients.
GUPTA: The Mahaswaran (ph) family emigrated to the UK years ago. But it managed to return to beautiful Sri Lanka for holiday every few years. As the entire world now knows, this trip was different. Father W.T. had been a medical doctor for more than 40 years. Dr. Danutia (ph) is 24 years old and had just graduated from medical school.
MAHASWARAN (ph): We heard about this on the radio. We were traveling. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were here at the right time. We feel like we should be able to do something. So we couldn't leave, really.
GUPTA: Vivia is 20 years old and in her third year of medical school. The Mahaswaran (ph) doctors have joined the handful of Sri Lankan doctors to are in their native country to offer their services.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every single day you turn the TV on, and the death toll is higher than even 10 minutes ago. We are quite lucky.
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GUPTA (on camera): You feel like you did some good here?
MAHASWARAN (ph): Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. It's nice to feel like we have done something.
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GUPTA: I'll tell you, Heidi, most of what we are seeing here typically has to do with cholera, dysentery, those are the concerns. A lot of medications that have not come in yet, we are seeing plenty of clean water and safe food. Still need to get some of those medications in to be able to take care of the thousands of people in the displaced camps.
COLLINS: Sanjay, it is such a great story watching these people bring their own talents to the area to help make a difference there. Are you seeing that sort of mind set coming from a lot of people who end up coming there to help?
GUPTA: You know, it's really remarkable. To talk about the types of tragedies these people had to endure recently. First the tsunami, then the loss of loved ones. Most people here either widows or orphans, subsequently having to identify the bodies of loved ones. But they are here and they are getting a lot of outpouring of help from Sri Lanka itself.
Heidi, it took some time for foreign aid to get here, so the natives of Sri Lanka had to sort of take care of their own.
What I will tell you, if you look at the camps like this, the most gravely injured are now being transported to hospitals in bigger cities, like Colombo. What you see here mainly is more minor ailments, cuts that need antibiotics, respiratory infections, diarrhea, concerning to be sure.
This particular camp, for example, about 3,000 people, there are only three bathrooms. So, there is, obviously, concerns about unsanitary conditions, but you are starting to see some action, you are starting to see some movement. Things do seem like they're improving at least here south of Sri Lanka.
COLLINS: That's great new. In fact, we do see some activity directly behind you, Sanjay. What is going on there?
GUPTA: It's interesting, if you take a look behind me, this shelter place over here, that's one of the only shelters that actually houses most of the 3,000 people, mats are inside there, lots of clothing has been donated. What is going on in there is a little bit of festivity today.
We didn't know what to expect on New Year's Eve here in Sri Lanka considering the recent events, but a little bit of festivity here at this Buddhist temple. You know, we will sort of wait it out and see what happens here tonight. It does appear that people seem to be in pretty good spirits actually, Heidi.
COLLINS: Boy, that is fantastic. I never imagined we would be seeing any sort of celebration whatsoever there. So, a little bit of positivity, if you will.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta coming to us from Doden Goda (ph), Sri Lanka, thanks.
SANCHEZ: It makes those of us over here want to see if we can help in anyway we can. But, you know, we want to, but how do you do it? Who do you give it to? How to you give it to them? What do you give them? A lot of questions involved including this one -- how do you make sure you don't give to the wrong organization. There are scammers out there in situations like this.
We will have those answers for you coming up next.
Also a vacation turns into a nightmare for one Wisconsin couple trapped at sea in a speedboat. We will bring you their frightening story ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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