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CNN Live Sunday
Continued Tsunami Coverage; Interview with Sally Donnelly
Aired January 02, 2005 - 17:00 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SUNDAY: It's 5:00 p.m. on the east coast. 5:00 a.m. in Sumatra, Indonesia. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at CNN's Global Headquarters in Atlanta.,
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SUNDAY: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Country by country the race to claim the dead and save the survivors, slowly inches forward one week after the tsunami disaster.
WHITFIELD: We continue this hour with CNN's extensive coverage of the tsunami disaster. CNN has dozens of staffers on the ground in south Asia among the tragedy of gripping stories of survival.
O'BRIEN: We'll take you into the heart of the disaster throughout the next hour, but first, a look of the top stories now in the news.
Aid is pouring into Indonesia and other parts of south Asia devastated by the tsunami. So much so, it's overwhelming those trying to get the supplies out to stranded survivors. Relief workers say they're scrambling to find transportation into areas left in accessible by the deadly waves. We'll have more on the aid bottle neck about two minutes from now.
A suicide car bomber killed 19 Iraqis near in Balad (ph) today, the explosives laid in slammed into a bus carrying Iraqi national soldiers, 18 soldiers, one Iraqi woman died in the blast. At least six soldiers wounded.
Delta Airlines about to change the way it does business. The carrier expected to slash ticket prices across the board. Also revamping its fee schedule for changing tickets, making it easier to get the cheapest fares. Details coming up on that in about 18 minutes from now.
WHITFIELD: Well let's start with these latest developments in the tsunami disaster. More than 141,000 people are confirmed dead in south Asia. And that number is expected to grow. Tens of thousands of people are still missing a week after the tsunami. More money is being pledged for relief efforts and reconstruction in the region. The World Bank has promised $250 million. But its president today said more, up to three times that amount, may come later. United Nations secretary General Kofi Annan will push for more contributions on a donors conference in Gecardi (ph) Indonesia on Thursday. He's scheduled to visit devastated areas well -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: The world is responding to the tsunami disaster with unprecedented generosity but the good intentions are overwhelming some parts of the disaster area. Aid is pouring into the Sumatra Island but getting it to those who need it most is proving to be very difficult. CNN's Atika Shubert reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Relief supplies are flooding into Aceh but not fast enough. The infrastructure is simply overwhelmed. With only two small airports to service the area, the skies are literally blocked with traffic from relief flights. Insufficient loading and refueling equipment also means the turn around time for these desperately-needed supplies is painstakingly slow.
This is the main warehouse for relief supplies into Aceh, mountains of food, water and medical supplies, but getting it to survivors can be a logistical nightmare. French aid group firefighters without borders has been trying to send a rescue medical team to the devastated west coast of Aceh, an area inaccessible by road. They're all packed, ready to go, but they've been scrambling for almost two days to find transportation.
ISABELLE LARDEUX GILLOUX, FIREFIGHTER WITHOUT BORDERS: Yes, but I'm sure we'll make it today. I think you have to say, after one bottle neck, there's another one, so I should not stop at one it will end up sometime.
SHUBERT: That's why support like the "USS Abraham Lincoln" carrier group is so badly needed. It's a floating rescue mission with 6,000 crew, a hospital and most important, a fleet of helicopters that can reach even the most in accessible parts of Aceh.
COL. DAVID KELLY, U.S. SUPPORT GROUP INDONESIA: It's wonderful because they don't have to park at these airports any longer than to pick up the supplies they need and move them to the effected areas. So that's been a great asset for us to have those lily pads, if you will, in the water.
SHUBERT: Helicopter missions like this will keep survivors alive for now, but unblocking the logistical bottle necks on the ground takes time, time many survivors don't have. Atika Shubert, CNN, Maydone (ph), Indosia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is on his way to southeast Asia to assess tsunami relief operations. He's heading a U.S. delegation including the president's brother Florida governor Jeb Bush. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us live with more on that mission. Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka President Bush is back in Washington at the White House this weekend making it very clear, despite the criticism that the U.S. is taking a leadership role in the humanitarian effort.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX (voice over): Amid the mass devastation, what some are calling a miracle, a story of an Indonesian fisherman discovered alive, trapped under his boat seven days after the tsunami hit, according to the Associated Press. American sea hawk helicopters arrived with food, energy drinks and hope. Critical supplies are now getting to tsunami survivors.
A U.S. delegations led by Secretary of State Colin Powell and the president's brother, Florida's governors Jeb Bush is on they're way to the region. Before deporting, Powell defended the U.S. response to the tsunami crises, which critics initially called poultry and slow.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: $350 million, two carrier groups, thousands of troops, when you look on television this morning, Wolf, what you're seeing are American helicopters landing and delivering assistance.
MALVEAUX: It's the largest American military operation in southern Asia since the Vietnam War. Relief workers say now, just as important as cash contributions is finding the means to deliver the aid that's pouring in.
JAN EGELAND, U.N. RELIEF COORDINATOR: Those helicopters that are now carrying out relief to isolated villages on the Sumatra Coast, for example, from the United States and from other parts of the countries, those helicopters are worth their weight in gold now for us.
MALVEAUX: President Bush returned to Washington from his week long vacation at his Texas ranch, vowing that the U.S. would lead an international coalition to help with the immediate humanitarian needs and long-term reconstruction in southern Asia. Over the weekend he issued a proclamation, ordering all U.S. flags at government buildings to be lowered at half staff starting Monday to show respect for the tsunami victims.
The U.S. delegations traveling to the region will visit those areas hardest hit by the disaster. First, in Thailand, to meet with official in Bangkok and survey the damage in Phuket, the popular tourist destinations where thousands of visitors and locals were swept to sea. To Indonesia, Jakarta where Powell will represent the U.A. at a international conference to coordinate the relief effort and to the costal town of Aceh the Epicenter of the disaster where the wave wiped out whole villages and possibly Sri Lanka where the death toll now approaches 50,000.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (on camera): As Secretary Powell says this is not just an humanitarian mission but it is a matter of U.S. national security. He says that if the masses there become a desperate or demoralized that they will fall prey to terrorist organization whose will try to recruit in that region -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Suzanne, Senator Bill Frist is heading out later in the week with a separate delegations. What's their mission? MALVEAUX: Well their mission essentially is Tuesday, they'll be sworn the new Congress will be sworn into session. Senator Frist will travel to Sri Lanka and also India, essentially to assess the damage, to assess the situation. We expect on Tuesday what Congress will do is pass a resolution saying they support the president in the $350 million already pledged and that they'll leave the door open for possibly more aid that is something, however, that members of Congress want to see for themselves to assess how much more money or resources that they'll actually need to contribute.
WHITFIELD: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks so much.
One penny at a time.
It seems both people, old and young, reach into their pockets to provide relief to the tsunami disaster victims. Miguel Marquez joins us live in a moment with that story.
And this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I still have parents that are alive, searching for me. I'm all right, papa, mama, please come back again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Tsunami survivor stories, in their own words, a powerful, uninterrupted look at the horror and devastation through their eyes. This is CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The devastation in south Asia has touched so many people worldwide, millions of dollars are being pledged, not just from governments.
O'BRIEN: Individuals of private organizations everywhere would like to help and they're doing it in some novel ways. CNN's Miguel Marquez with our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIQUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A call for compassion, the wave of tragedy is giving way to a torrent of kindness.
SAM ARNOLD, CANADIAN DONOR: Made me feel really sad watching the news.
MARQUEZ: From children counting pennies in Canada to an L.A. Indosian restaurant giving a days profits plus tips to save the children, like drops of water trying to fill an ocean of need.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number of people, the victims now is just mind blowing. MARQUEZ: In Catholic churches, from coast to coast, baskets passed for a special collection. No donation too small.
CARDINAL: THEODORE E MCCARRICK, ARCHBISHOP OF WASHINGTON: From little kids saying, I'll empty by piggy banks and foundations so say, well give $1 million.
MARQUEZ: Buddhist meditation in Los Angeles mixed with candlelight vigils around the world, prayers so far being answered in record numbers.
H. T. LINKIE, AMERICAN RED CROSS: I don't think we've seen anything like this since the horrible tragedy of 9/11.
MARK JANZ, WORLD VISION: All the giving percentages currently are breaking records.
MARQUEZ: Fueled by cash, direct relief international is trying to meet the immediate needs of survivors. They like many other charities are reporting a surge in giving.
RICHARD WALDEN, PRES. OPERATIONS USA: A federal expression envelope arrived this morning with $50,000 in it.
MARQUEZ: An enormous donation for the small charity Operation USA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really need your help.
MARQUEZ: The campaign to give broadcast to Los Angeles homes, a four-hour telethon by a small television station, with big hopes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Remember, one small ripple spreads out to the whole of the ocean. You can change the world bit by bit.
MARQUEZ: Doing his bit, the president of Von Dutch.
TOMMY SORENSEN, CEO, VON DUTCH ORIGINALS: I have a fashion company and I was like, I need to sell a t-shirt and give all the profit to these people.
MARQUEZ: Giving comes in short or long sleeve and in all sizes for around $30 bucks.
MARQUEZ (on camera): Now, keep in mind these are just the private efforts, public money is a whole different thing. The U.N. saying that a total of $2 billion has been pledged so far, that's more than all other humanitarian merges combined for 2004. But to but that into context, during last year's hurricane to Federal Emergency Management Agency provided $3.3 billion to storm-wrecked Florida.
Of course, on this disaster the giving has only just begun. The Red Cross saying that as of last night, it has raised $64 million and that number's probably already been surpassed. And World Vision, another charity, has already committed $50 million to this disaster alone. That's the most in the group's 54-year history. Back to you. O'BRIEN: CNN's Miguel Marquez, thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: We're going to take a short break from our tsunami coverage and take a look at some other stories making headlines today. Still ahead.
O'BRIEN: Tough (INAUDIBLE) taking to the skies I should say and for a deal, Delta Airlines is announcing some bargain fares. We'll have details on this move by the number three or number two carrier, depending on how you count, in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Checking news across America now. Congressman Robert Matsui of California is dead. His office says 63-year-old representative from Sacramental died yesterday of a rare blood disorder at the hospital in Maryland. Matsui shared the Democratic congressional campaign committee. He was the top Democrat on the house Social Security subcommittee. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi calls him seniors' best friend in Congress.
Former Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry is celebrating his inauguration for a third city council term. Barry took the oath of office today at the D.C. Convention Center.
Nevada residences are digging out from winter storm that has left four feet of snow in Reno and up to eight feet in a Tahoe. The storm is part of a huge system that has also spread rain and snow throughout most of California.
Miles.
O'BRIEN: Next week the skies may seem a little friendlier to your wallet perhaps. Delta the nations second biggest carrier expected to radically change its pricing policy. According to a "Time" magazine exclusive, Delta is slashing prices, dropping that famous or infamous Saturday night stay over rule on some cheap fares. "Time " magazine Sally Donnelly reported and wrote the article she is with us now from Washington with details, Sally, good to have you with us.
SALLY DONNELLY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Why don't you lay out the rule change in capitalized form for us.
DONNELLY: Well what they're expected to do is restructure their fares nationwide. Bring down those very high fares those fares of $1,000, $2,000 fares, top it out at maybe $599 or $699 to go cross- country. And you can get that last-minute fare just a walk-up fare. As you said, they're also going to remove that Saturday night stay which has irritated a lot of business travelers. They did a similar sort of thing in Cincinnati several months ago and they increased passengers by about 30 percent.
O'BRIEN: How soon will we see these fares, do you think? DONNELLY: Delta, I think, will announce it next week. It's part of a whole restructuring they're doing. In Atlanta at their hub, as you know, they're going to reschedule the operations of that hub to make it smoother and try to avoid those delays that really irritate passengers.
O'BRIEN: All right, Delta obviously on the ropes here. Needed to do something. It's interesting, historically Delta has not been a leader in these kinds of things. Usually America does something and Delta me too's. Obviously the necessity of the invention here I guess?
DONNELLY: Right obviously they are facing a lot of competition. And as you know they had a new CEO come in last year, who has looked across the whole system and is really responding the competition from airlines like Southwest and Jetblue.
O'BRIEN: All right, just antidotically though I've notice that on Delta flights, I fly Delta a lot, but the planes have been full already. Is this the right strategy for this airline right now as it tries to cut out $5 billion in expenses and turn a profit, given all that's going on in world?
DONNELLY: Well, they certainly want to compete. You know, and what it takes right now is to have the lowest price. They just can't compete right now with those $1,000 and $2,000 fares. They're trying to get down to where Southwest and Jetblue are. And analysts I talk to say that every other big six carrier will follow them, American, United, Northwest. It's going to be a great day for consumers.
O'BRIEN: Boy big changes in the airline industry. That's for sure. Sally Donnelly thank you very much appreciate it.
WHITFIELD: Get ready to start looking at the calendar to figure out when and where you can go.
O'BRIEN: I hope if nothing else they become more consistent in the fares. It seems like every time you call you get a different story.
WHITFIELD: That is true, depends on who you get on the other end.
O'BRIEN: One set of rules.
WHITFIELD: All right we will see. Coming up next week. Well straight ahead, an update on today's top stories. And then, surviving the unthinkable. We'll bring you first-hand accounts from survivors of the tsunami in their own words.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The latest on our top stories, the death toll from last week's tsunami now tops 141,000. Authorities in affected countries fear the number will rise as hope begins to fade for tens of thousands still reported missing. In Thailand the government is using elephants to help with the tsunami recovery effort. They are helping clear debris in the search for bodies. Some of the elephants were last used in the Oliver Stone film "Alexander" incidentally.
And aid is arriving in the region but how to distribute it, crucial junctures in the tsunami relief effort are now experiencing bottle necks. In the next hour, CNN's Atika Shubert reports on aid traffic jams.
O'BRIEN: The people who witnessed the tsunamis, who were engulfed by them and who finally emerged alive will likely tell and retell those experiences for the rest of their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly this wave took up -- must have been about 85 percent of the horizon and was coming towards us.
O'BRIEN: When we return, survivors' story in their own words. Half hour commercial-free. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well throughout the next 24 minutes you'll meet some people now counting their blessings, having lived through one of modern histories most horrific natural disasters.
O'BRIEN: Now with out commercial interruptions Tsunami survivor stories in their own words.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god! Oh police, police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wave hit and we have big waves in the channel. It wasn't a wave. The wave that hit, but there was -- it was just sort of a wall behind it and nothing was going to stop that wave. It was the biggest wave I've ever seen. That wave is a good 15, 20 feet tall, easy. Get in! Get in! Get in!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first indications we had was the vibration just came through, 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning. Then I was in my bed at the time. First I heard a crashing sound coming through from the front of the building. We're lucky because the hotel we were in had an underground car lot which took the first part of the impact. The wave came through on the first floor. I heard the crashing and banging screaming sound. I rushed out the front to see people basically leaving everywhere, broken bones, people thrown into -- out of windows. Everywhere. We were under about to feet of water at the time. And the situation was -- was terrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no way any person can tell you what emotion you feel, when you see a wall of water, one story high, fill up the lobby of a hotel, three cars in the back of the lobby and you see people swimming around in that and you don't know what you can do to get them out. There is no measure. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were having coffee. And the woman in the coffee shop said to us, the water's too high. She kept saying that. What does that mean? Not a minute later she screamed, run, and we all just started running and the water -- the water came really quickly. We started jogging through the streets just trying to get to the mountain. And my friend and I just started running and every time we turned a corner we thought we lost or the water had stopped but -- every time we turned a corner the water would be there.
We ran through several streets with the water right at our heels. Then when we got to -- behind several buildings and streets, the -- we got to the base of the mountain and it was like a mass exodus out of the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't judge how fast it was moving because it was behind me. We were just running. You know, it was carrying everything that it had destroyed on its way in, was carrying it on its way out. So there was furniture and buildings and pieces of everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): Suddenly there were huge waves that hit the seashore and people started running helter skelter. A lot of women were trapped because they couldn't run and a lot of children were also trapped. About 60 people are supposed to have died. We have never seen anything like this before. And we are really very scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translator): I lost everyone and everything says 30 year old Usaneate (ph), my four children and my husband are gone, gone. I was holding my 8-month-old in the waters but the waves pulled us apart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): We've never seen anything like this. We were fishing normally in the sea when we were shocked by the huge waves. We fled for shore and prayed for ala to save our lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translator): I was alone and shouted for help but no one was here. Everything got washed away, including boat and net. Nothing is left in any house. All our belongings are gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought, okay, it's going to stop. It's going to hit our ankles and my youngest daughter dropped her journal and I went to pick it up and when I picked it up I heard this sound that can only be described perhaps as a jet engine bearing down on us. And trees starting to break. And then what looked like a wave that was 10 to 15 feet, not in the traditional sense of a wave but water, massive water rushing at us, closing a gap. I don't think I've ever run that fast.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water just came up like a gigantic wave and took the water bungle, took all of the deck. The deck came flying in through the windows at us. And I said, let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Started off being able to stand up in it and then it covered chairs and mattresses started coming at you. And I got out of the way and ended up on some sort of pier going out to sea. And there was people on the beach in the early morning just being washed down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We climbed up a tree while the water was breaking right at our feet, the waves. We head up the tree and went higher and higher until we were right at the top and we couldn't go any higher and we just waited until the water level eventually dropped.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before the wave came in, there was a massive under toe. And in 15 to 30 seconds, something like 200 yards -- I'm sorry, 2,000 yards of water just got sucked right out to sea. And anybody who was in the water at that point up to their knees or so got yanked right out. There was just no hope for those. People described seeing literally thousands of people on the beach and one minute and the next minute, those people were gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly we saw the water advance. To start with we thought it was just the sea and then the second wave was a lot stronger. And we rushed up stairs. It happened a few times within about an hour in between. And the third wave that hit the hotel. Devastated the bottom half, the lower floors and so on. And we were at top on the third floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The children were playing on the beach when I came running down to find them and my wife, Libby. The sea was a flat calm but with one big exception, a 20-foot wave was coming in shore very quickly indeed. Five year-old Peter was staring at the wave, mesmerized. I lunched forward and grabbed him. Obviously with the wave pursuing us pretty rapidly, Peter and I were moving rather more quickly than we are this morning. My wife Libby and my daughter Elizabeth headed for our bungalow over there but I knew myself and if little fellow here wouldn't make it. We listened to the wave breaking on the beach. There was a big bang as it came through those trees.
I suppose we reached about here before we were washed away. We were then carried about 40 yards. The wave carried us both through this little gap between these two bungalows. All of the time I was aware of the debris the wave picked up on its journey. Peter and I ended up actually down there in this field. Here are some of the tree trunks and other bits of debris the wave carried with us. Fortunately, they missed us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The room filled up within 30 seconds first of all to three foot and then we walked out of the rooms and one of our friends couldn't get out of the room and we woke up and the sleep in his bed, lying -- woke up in water. Threw the TV out of the window to climb out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We turned around and all of a sudden there was a 25 to 30-footwall of water rushing towards you probably at 40 miles an hour. And you had little time to try and get to higher ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Having stood in the water literally, within two seconds from ankle high to shoulder height, you usually imagine a tidal wave, like you see in the movies, the big wave. Waves that hit and certainly the force from other resorts, they all came in very hard and fast. It was built like watching a bath run to the top.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a total roar. I looked through the glass doors and this water just came down the steps and through the doors. It washed me away and downstairs, glass doors was smashed by the water and I just couldn't keep my footing. I was very frightened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was this hut and we heard a little girl crying. We went in there and dragged her out. She ended up going out and we just found out today she didn't make it either. But four of them perished yesterday and this was a small village, about 800 people and the lost five right there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Children are less able to run away from this kind of a flood. They're less able to hang on to a tree. They're less able to swim for their lives. So we're afraid that in fact children were affected, especially those who were caught in the raging waves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm searching for my mother. Leon Echocom (ph) she's from Holland. She's 53 years old. She's missing from the Calok (ph) Maryland Beach Resort. We have still hope and we are not going to leave without her. Strange, dead or alive, but we have to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have three false alarms. Last night we found someone on Pierce Island, spelled with a y rather than an I in the sur name. When we tracked him down, it was someone completely someone different from England who was on a holiday. So you have lots of leads which you follow and you get excited and then you find some information that takes you off that trail.
But you have to remain positive. You know, miracles do happen and if you start to believe that the worse has happened, you start to crumble. So you just remain positive all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's horrible. Sounded like a jet engine just right maybe five feet behind you. People screaming as maybe the water hit them. It was trees cracking, houses exploding. It was just so horrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in the water in the middle of the sea. And I didn't have anything with me. My parent was gone and wash off in the water. Only are my top and I just -- so I was tired of swimming. I had the god given gift, father given gift to me, I have to swim. I started swimming with lots and lots of hope that I may find somebody, my father, my family might be waiting for me. I still have hopes that my parents are alive searching for me. I'm all right, papa, mama, please come back again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could hear my wife scream. I know where she was. And I was hiding behind the roof. I went around to get her. And just all hell broke loose and that was the last time I saw her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): I was at work when some people came to me and told me that huge waves were lashing the shore and my family was in danger. I rushed home and managed to rescue my mother. I took her to the hospital. By the time I returned, I realized my daughter was missing. I looked up hospitals for her but could not find her. After three days I found her body in the debris of my house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We left paradise. It was a beautiful island and we came back to just hell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): We never felt that it was a tsunami. It was a big tide. They have big tides there every day. Well, it came and went and everybody calmed down. We came back to look at the damage. Find their loved ones. That's when the second wave came. An elderly lady was stuck in the side of a balcony and she was lying in the water in her back with her head just barely above water. Chairs and benches and all sorts of junk were piling up on her and crushing her. Her elderly husband couldn't help her, but two other guys came running up and five of us pulled her out of there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a little panic, a lot of people were hysterical. A lot of the children were grabbing hold of me and people around. And like the mothers of children who -- there was one particular mother who had about three or four children around and obviously she didn't have enough arms to hold the children. She was imploring me to grab a hold of her children and look after her children, so I did. So I was trying to grab a hold of many people as possible as well as secure myself.
It was like a sea of dead bodies children and women mainly. Majority of them were children. I had to clear a path through the water by pushing the people and heading for land. It was just a case of survival.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Better to be here than sitting at home and see it on the television. So we asked to be here and see what we can do, if we can find her or figure out what happened to her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since it happened, just stuck by the phone, you know, 24/7. I haven't heard from him. So now took the bull by the horns and flying out tomorrow to Thailand myself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With sent pictures out, posters all around the hospitals, you know, everybody is trying their best.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are many regions still untouched by medical hands. My personal opinion, having seen the destruction, is that the accounts that have been given, based on the body counts are only a small fraction of the final toll of what it's likely to be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps the biggest challenge now is the water and the sanitation and the emergency food and the emergency shelter for hundreds of thousands of homeless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): We are trying to provide people what they require the most at this time, like food utensils, water, clothing, et cetera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sanitation equipment, water tanks, taps, basically toilet facilities. There's 27 tons going on the plane and what it will do is bring clean water to at least 175,000 people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're doing our best here. We're collecting money from the temple.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need everything, floats, materials, medicine, band-aids, whatever that are needed, they are bringing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a huge operation, clearly we're four days out from this event already. Bodies are lying unrefrigerated, deteriorating rapidly. The Thai authorities have done a great excellent job, I think, in quite extraordinary difficult circumstances. This would challenge the most developed country in the world, the scale of this problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sea is like a mother, the land the father, he says. We love the sea and respect it like god. But now we are weary. We are petrified, he says. We wonder now, can we continue our livelihood on the high seas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are so generous. Missing families and they brought up food and supplies and we all sort of camped out on top of this jungle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was speaking with people who have lost their homes and a number of fishermen who lost their livelihoods. And to be able to get on a plane and get away with it left a very unsettling feeling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were no villages left standings about 100 kilometers north. It's like a nuclear blast has hit the area. It's completely leveled everything except for just a few structures. We've seen nothing at all of the ones built out of wood and that probably constitutes the most.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): Entire families have been wiped away. Children have been separated from their parents. There are dead bodies all over. We are more worried about people who are in the forest and are injured because no aid reached them yet. I hope the government can do something for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): My boat is somewhere out there he says. I don't know where my family is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translator): The water was rising in the sea was coming. We ran for our lives but it caught us and the water almost came up to our necks. We managed to escape from the first wave, which destroyed our house. The second wave came and took us by surprise. There was just so much water I didn't know what to do.
When the second wave came, we were looking for our son, and my husband went out to search for him and found him in a tree. He rescued him and both of them were running for their lives. Later, my son was found alive but my husband was missing. He had been drowned. So we don't know what to do next. Right now we don't have a source of income. We'll need to look for jobs but they are scarce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): My main thoughts were about the people who died. Nothing was clear. We figured some had been taken to sea. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): My friend here, they died, dead. I don't have nobody. I am searching but nothing left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I saw, it was -- it was really exciting for me. When you see what happened, you see the carnage and you realize that how lucky we are as a family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They called him the miracle boy. And today there was one more miracle waiting or little Hanas Burgstrom (ph). His father the 20-month-old was separated from his parents when the tsunami hit Phuket, an American family found him unconscious, wrapped in blankets to the top of the hill. No one knew if he would even survive, but he did. His father, recovering from his injuries in another hospital, wondered if he would ever see his little boy again. His prayers were answered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was frightened. I did not think I would survive. The rescue team found my son in the mangrove. Not me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew I had to let go of one of them and I let go of the one that was the oldest and I grabbed hold of him for a moment but she said she had to let him go because she was going under. And I was screaming, trying to find him and we -- he was dead. I'm just so thankful that I've still got my two kids with me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine that if you had just lost your entire worldly possessions and perhaps more, parents, children, that you would turn around and offer kindness. One man went down to the village or whatever was left of it. I don't know how he did it. And brought up rice, some of the best-tasting rice we had ever had. And he didn't have to do that. I don't know why he did it. I think it's a testament to the Thai people, the generosity of the spirit, just a magical group.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The worst from nature has brought out the best of humanity. The aftermath of the tsunami disaster has seen outpouring of support from around the world. CNN's Ram Ramgopal brings us the story of one volunteer in India who traveled thousands of miles to give a helping hand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAM RAMGOPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the shores of (INAUDIBLE) handouts for the hungry. Last Sunday this area was inundated by the tsunami, among the worst affected districts in Chennani. The city formally know Madras (ph). One week on, a sea of humanity is surging for help in the form of food, clothing, anything anyone can provide.
Because of its urban setting this is among the better organized distribution points. But here, as in many other places, the need is reflected in long lines that stretch into the distance. As these people patiently await their turn, a humanitarian hand provides substance. It's the hand of Thomas Cheng, an insurance executive from Malaysia, touched by the suffering he saw on TV, Cheng was moved to travel thousands of miles at his own cost to help in the relief work here.
THOMAS CHENG: I see the people here, there are hungry faces and suffering is just overwhelming.
RAMGOPAL: Cheng is also capturing the experience on his own camcorder. Here at the relief camp he helped serve dinner to up to 350 people.
CHENG: We realize we're all brothers and sisters. Others if one brother suffers, we also feel the same.
RAMGOPAL: On this marina beach, the damage is extensive. This shanty town in the sands has been nearly leveled. Dozens drowned in these waters. Today the focus is on basics like food. Tomorrow it will be about much larger issues. A roof over these people's heads their livelihoods, school. In the historic cathedral, a prayer is said for the lost souls of Asia and candles are lit to dispel the darkness. Ron Ramgopai, CNN, Chennai, India.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Some remarkable pictures, it's just so hard to imagine how anyone is able to just cope.
O'BRIEN: Yes the human spirit is an amazing thing because this tragedy is so hard to comprehend and yet people will somehow, some way bounce back. It's going to take a long time.
WHITFIELD: Well that's going to do it for this hour. Still ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY, the Tamil Tigers.
O'BRIEN: The U.S. and other countries call them terrorists but in Sri Lanka they're also leading the way in relief efforts. We'll take you to the control territory straight ahead for this story you will see only on CNN. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 2, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SUNDAY: It's 5:00 p.m. on the east coast. 5:00 a.m. in Sumatra, Indonesia. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at CNN's Global Headquarters in Atlanta.,
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SUNDAY: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Country by country the race to claim the dead and save the survivors, slowly inches forward one week after the tsunami disaster.
WHITFIELD: We continue this hour with CNN's extensive coverage of the tsunami disaster. CNN has dozens of staffers on the ground in south Asia among the tragedy of gripping stories of survival.
O'BRIEN: We'll take you into the heart of the disaster throughout the next hour, but first, a look of the top stories now in the news.
Aid is pouring into Indonesia and other parts of south Asia devastated by the tsunami. So much so, it's overwhelming those trying to get the supplies out to stranded survivors. Relief workers say they're scrambling to find transportation into areas left in accessible by the deadly waves. We'll have more on the aid bottle neck about two minutes from now.
A suicide car bomber killed 19 Iraqis near in Balad (ph) today, the explosives laid in slammed into a bus carrying Iraqi national soldiers, 18 soldiers, one Iraqi woman died in the blast. At least six soldiers wounded.
Delta Airlines about to change the way it does business. The carrier expected to slash ticket prices across the board. Also revamping its fee schedule for changing tickets, making it easier to get the cheapest fares. Details coming up on that in about 18 minutes from now.
WHITFIELD: Well let's start with these latest developments in the tsunami disaster. More than 141,000 people are confirmed dead in south Asia. And that number is expected to grow. Tens of thousands of people are still missing a week after the tsunami. More money is being pledged for relief efforts and reconstruction in the region. The World Bank has promised $250 million. But its president today said more, up to three times that amount, may come later. United Nations secretary General Kofi Annan will push for more contributions on a donors conference in Gecardi (ph) Indonesia on Thursday. He's scheduled to visit devastated areas well -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: The world is responding to the tsunami disaster with unprecedented generosity but the good intentions are overwhelming some parts of the disaster area. Aid is pouring into the Sumatra Island but getting it to those who need it most is proving to be very difficult. CNN's Atika Shubert reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Relief supplies are flooding into Aceh but not fast enough. The infrastructure is simply overwhelmed. With only two small airports to service the area, the skies are literally blocked with traffic from relief flights. Insufficient loading and refueling equipment also means the turn around time for these desperately-needed supplies is painstakingly slow.
This is the main warehouse for relief supplies into Aceh, mountains of food, water and medical supplies, but getting it to survivors can be a logistical nightmare. French aid group firefighters without borders has been trying to send a rescue medical team to the devastated west coast of Aceh, an area inaccessible by road. They're all packed, ready to go, but they've been scrambling for almost two days to find transportation.
ISABELLE LARDEUX GILLOUX, FIREFIGHTER WITHOUT BORDERS: Yes, but I'm sure we'll make it today. I think you have to say, after one bottle neck, there's another one, so I should not stop at one it will end up sometime.
SHUBERT: That's why support like the "USS Abraham Lincoln" carrier group is so badly needed. It's a floating rescue mission with 6,000 crew, a hospital and most important, a fleet of helicopters that can reach even the most in accessible parts of Aceh.
COL. DAVID KELLY, U.S. SUPPORT GROUP INDONESIA: It's wonderful because they don't have to park at these airports any longer than to pick up the supplies they need and move them to the effected areas. So that's been a great asset for us to have those lily pads, if you will, in the water.
SHUBERT: Helicopter missions like this will keep survivors alive for now, but unblocking the logistical bottle necks on the ground takes time, time many survivors don't have. Atika Shubert, CNN, Maydone (ph), Indosia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is on his way to southeast Asia to assess tsunami relief operations. He's heading a U.S. delegation including the president's brother Florida governor Jeb Bush. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us live with more on that mission. Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka President Bush is back in Washington at the White House this weekend making it very clear, despite the criticism that the U.S. is taking a leadership role in the humanitarian effort.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX (voice over): Amid the mass devastation, what some are calling a miracle, a story of an Indonesian fisherman discovered alive, trapped under his boat seven days after the tsunami hit, according to the Associated Press. American sea hawk helicopters arrived with food, energy drinks and hope. Critical supplies are now getting to tsunami survivors.
A U.S. delegations led by Secretary of State Colin Powell and the president's brother, Florida's governors Jeb Bush is on they're way to the region. Before deporting, Powell defended the U.S. response to the tsunami crises, which critics initially called poultry and slow.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: $350 million, two carrier groups, thousands of troops, when you look on television this morning, Wolf, what you're seeing are American helicopters landing and delivering assistance.
MALVEAUX: It's the largest American military operation in southern Asia since the Vietnam War. Relief workers say now, just as important as cash contributions is finding the means to deliver the aid that's pouring in.
JAN EGELAND, U.N. RELIEF COORDINATOR: Those helicopters that are now carrying out relief to isolated villages on the Sumatra Coast, for example, from the United States and from other parts of the countries, those helicopters are worth their weight in gold now for us.
MALVEAUX: President Bush returned to Washington from his week long vacation at his Texas ranch, vowing that the U.S. would lead an international coalition to help with the immediate humanitarian needs and long-term reconstruction in southern Asia. Over the weekend he issued a proclamation, ordering all U.S. flags at government buildings to be lowered at half staff starting Monday to show respect for the tsunami victims.
The U.S. delegations traveling to the region will visit those areas hardest hit by the disaster. First, in Thailand, to meet with official in Bangkok and survey the damage in Phuket, the popular tourist destinations where thousands of visitors and locals were swept to sea. To Indonesia, Jakarta where Powell will represent the U.A. at a international conference to coordinate the relief effort and to the costal town of Aceh the Epicenter of the disaster where the wave wiped out whole villages and possibly Sri Lanka where the death toll now approaches 50,000.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (on camera): As Secretary Powell says this is not just an humanitarian mission but it is a matter of U.S. national security. He says that if the masses there become a desperate or demoralized that they will fall prey to terrorist organization whose will try to recruit in that region -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Suzanne, Senator Bill Frist is heading out later in the week with a separate delegations. What's their mission? MALVEAUX: Well their mission essentially is Tuesday, they'll be sworn the new Congress will be sworn into session. Senator Frist will travel to Sri Lanka and also India, essentially to assess the damage, to assess the situation. We expect on Tuesday what Congress will do is pass a resolution saying they support the president in the $350 million already pledged and that they'll leave the door open for possibly more aid that is something, however, that members of Congress want to see for themselves to assess how much more money or resources that they'll actually need to contribute.
WHITFIELD: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks so much.
One penny at a time.
It seems both people, old and young, reach into their pockets to provide relief to the tsunami disaster victims. Miguel Marquez joins us live in a moment with that story.
And this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I still have parents that are alive, searching for me. I'm all right, papa, mama, please come back again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Tsunami survivor stories, in their own words, a powerful, uninterrupted look at the horror and devastation through their eyes. This is CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The devastation in south Asia has touched so many people worldwide, millions of dollars are being pledged, not just from governments.
O'BRIEN: Individuals of private organizations everywhere would like to help and they're doing it in some novel ways. CNN's Miguel Marquez with our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIQUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A call for compassion, the wave of tragedy is giving way to a torrent of kindness.
SAM ARNOLD, CANADIAN DONOR: Made me feel really sad watching the news.
MARQUEZ: From children counting pennies in Canada to an L.A. Indosian restaurant giving a days profits plus tips to save the children, like drops of water trying to fill an ocean of need.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number of people, the victims now is just mind blowing. MARQUEZ: In Catholic churches, from coast to coast, baskets passed for a special collection. No donation too small.
CARDINAL: THEODORE E MCCARRICK, ARCHBISHOP OF WASHINGTON: From little kids saying, I'll empty by piggy banks and foundations so say, well give $1 million.
MARQUEZ: Buddhist meditation in Los Angeles mixed with candlelight vigils around the world, prayers so far being answered in record numbers.
H. T. LINKIE, AMERICAN RED CROSS: I don't think we've seen anything like this since the horrible tragedy of 9/11.
MARK JANZ, WORLD VISION: All the giving percentages currently are breaking records.
MARQUEZ: Fueled by cash, direct relief international is trying to meet the immediate needs of survivors. They like many other charities are reporting a surge in giving.
RICHARD WALDEN, PRES. OPERATIONS USA: A federal expression envelope arrived this morning with $50,000 in it.
MARQUEZ: An enormous donation for the small charity Operation USA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really need your help.
MARQUEZ: The campaign to give broadcast to Los Angeles homes, a four-hour telethon by a small television station, with big hopes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Remember, one small ripple spreads out to the whole of the ocean. You can change the world bit by bit.
MARQUEZ: Doing his bit, the president of Von Dutch.
TOMMY SORENSEN, CEO, VON DUTCH ORIGINALS: I have a fashion company and I was like, I need to sell a t-shirt and give all the profit to these people.
MARQUEZ: Giving comes in short or long sleeve and in all sizes for around $30 bucks.
MARQUEZ (on camera): Now, keep in mind these are just the private efforts, public money is a whole different thing. The U.N. saying that a total of $2 billion has been pledged so far, that's more than all other humanitarian merges combined for 2004. But to but that into context, during last year's hurricane to Federal Emergency Management Agency provided $3.3 billion to storm-wrecked Florida.
Of course, on this disaster the giving has only just begun. The Red Cross saying that as of last night, it has raised $64 million and that number's probably already been surpassed. And World Vision, another charity, has already committed $50 million to this disaster alone. That's the most in the group's 54-year history. Back to you. O'BRIEN: CNN's Miguel Marquez, thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: We're going to take a short break from our tsunami coverage and take a look at some other stories making headlines today. Still ahead.
O'BRIEN: Tough (INAUDIBLE) taking to the skies I should say and for a deal, Delta Airlines is announcing some bargain fares. We'll have details on this move by the number three or number two carrier, depending on how you count, in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Checking news across America now. Congressman Robert Matsui of California is dead. His office says 63-year-old representative from Sacramental died yesterday of a rare blood disorder at the hospital in Maryland. Matsui shared the Democratic congressional campaign committee. He was the top Democrat on the house Social Security subcommittee. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi calls him seniors' best friend in Congress.
Former Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry is celebrating his inauguration for a third city council term. Barry took the oath of office today at the D.C. Convention Center.
Nevada residences are digging out from winter storm that has left four feet of snow in Reno and up to eight feet in a Tahoe. The storm is part of a huge system that has also spread rain and snow throughout most of California.
Miles.
O'BRIEN: Next week the skies may seem a little friendlier to your wallet perhaps. Delta the nations second biggest carrier expected to radically change its pricing policy. According to a "Time" magazine exclusive, Delta is slashing prices, dropping that famous or infamous Saturday night stay over rule on some cheap fares. "Time " magazine Sally Donnelly reported and wrote the article she is with us now from Washington with details, Sally, good to have you with us.
SALLY DONNELLY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Why don't you lay out the rule change in capitalized form for us.
DONNELLY: Well what they're expected to do is restructure their fares nationwide. Bring down those very high fares those fares of $1,000, $2,000 fares, top it out at maybe $599 or $699 to go cross- country. And you can get that last-minute fare just a walk-up fare. As you said, they're also going to remove that Saturday night stay which has irritated a lot of business travelers. They did a similar sort of thing in Cincinnati several months ago and they increased passengers by about 30 percent.
O'BRIEN: How soon will we see these fares, do you think? DONNELLY: Delta, I think, will announce it next week. It's part of a whole restructuring they're doing. In Atlanta at their hub, as you know, they're going to reschedule the operations of that hub to make it smoother and try to avoid those delays that really irritate passengers.
O'BRIEN: All right, Delta obviously on the ropes here. Needed to do something. It's interesting, historically Delta has not been a leader in these kinds of things. Usually America does something and Delta me too's. Obviously the necessity of the invention here I guess?
DONNELLY: Right obviously they are facing a lot of competition. And as you know they had a new CEO come in last year, who has looked across the whole system and is really responding the competition from airlines like Southwest and Jetblue.
O'BRIEN: All right, just antidotically though I've notice that on Delta flights, I fly Delta a lot, but the planes have been full already. Is this the right strategy for this airline right now as it tries to cut out $5 billion in expenses and turn a profit, given all that's going on in world?
DONNELLY: Well, they certainly want to compete. You know, and what it takes right now is to have the lowest price. They just can't compete right now with those $1,000 and $2,000 fares. They're trying to get down to where Southwest and Jetblue are. And analysts I talk to say that every other big six carrier will follow them, American, United, Northwest. It's going to be a great day for consumers.
O'BRIEN: Boy big changes in the airline industry. That's for sure. Sally Donnelly thank you very much appreciate it.
WHITFIELD: Get ready to start looking at the calendar to figure out when and where you can go.
O'BRIEN: I hope if nothing else they become more consistent in the fares. It seems like every time you call you get a different story.
WHITFIELD: That is true, depends on who you get on the other end.
O'BRIEN: One set of rules.
WHITFIELD: All right we will see. Coming up next week. Well straight ahead, an update on today's top stories. And then, surviving the unthinkable. We'll bring you first-hand accounts from survivors of the tsunami in their own words.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The latest on our top stories, the death toll from last week's tsunami now tops 141,000. Authorities in affected countries fear the number will rise as hope begins to fade for tens of thousands still reported missing. In Thailand the government is using elephants to help with the tsunami recovery effort. They are helping clear debris in the search for bodies. Some of the elephants were last used in the Oliver Stone film "Alexander" incidentally.
And aid is arriving in the region but how to distribute it, crucial junctures in the tsunami relief effort are now experiencing bottle necks. In the next hour, CNN's Atika Shubert reports on aid traffic jams.
O'BRIEN: The people who witnessed the tsunamis, who were engulfed by them and who finally emerged alive will likely tell and retell those experiences for the rest of their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly this wave took up -- must have been about 85 percent of the horizon and was coming towards us.
O'BRIEN: When we return, survivors' story in their own words. Half hour commercial-free. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well throughout the next 24 minutes you'll meet some people now counting their blessings, having lived through one of modern histories most horrific natural disasters.
O'BRIEN: Now with out commercial interruptions Tsunami survivor stories in their own words.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god! Oh police, police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wave hit and we have big waves in the channel. It wasn't a wave. The wave that hit, but there was -- it was just sort of a wall behind it and nothing was going to stop that wave. It was the biggest wave I've ever seen. That wave is a good 15, 20 feet tall, easy. Get in! Get in! Get in!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first indications we had was the vibration just came through, 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning. Then I was in my bed at the time. First I heard a crashing sound coming through from the front of the building. We're lucky because the hotel we were in had an underground car lot which took the first part of the impact. The wave came through on the first floor. I heard the crashing and banging screaming sound. I rushed out the front to see people basically leaving everywhere, broken bones, people thrown into -- out of windows. Everywhere. We were under about to feet of water at the time. And the situation was -- was terrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no way any person can tell you what emotion you feel, when you see a wall of water, one story high, fill up the lobby of a hotel, three cars in the back of the lobby and you see people swimming around in that and you don't know what you can do to get them out. There is no measure. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were having coffee. And the woman in the coffee shop said to us, the water's too high. She kept saying that. What does that mean? Not a minute later she screamed, run, and we all just started running and the water -- the water came really quickly. We started jogging through the streets just trying to get to the mountain. And my friend and I just started running and every time we turned a corner we thought we lost or the water had stopped but -- every time we turned a corner the water would be there.
We ran through several streets with the water right at our heels. Then when we got to -- behind several buildings and streets, the -- we got to the base of the mountain and it was like a mass exodus out of the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't judge how fast it was moving because it was behind me. We were just running. You know, it was carrying everything that it had destroyed on its way in, was carrying it on its way out. So there was furniture and buildings and pieces of everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): Suddenly there were huge waves that hit the seashore and people started running helter skelter. A lot of women were trapped because they couldn't run and a lot of children were also trapped. About 60 people are supposed to have died. We have never seen anything like this before. And we are really very scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translator): I lost everyone and everything says 30 year old Usaneate (ph), my four children and my husband are gone, gone. I was holding my 8-month-old in the waters but the waves pulled us apart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): We've never seen anything like this. We were fishing normally in the sea when we were shocked by the huge waves. We fled for shore and prayed for ala to save our lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translator): I was alone and shouted for help but no one was here. Everything got washed away, including boat and net. Nothing is left in any house. All our belongings are gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought, okay, it's going to stop. It's going to hit our ankles and my youngest daughter dropped her journal and I went to pick it up and when I picked it up I heard this sound that can only be described perhaps as a jet engine bearing down on us. And trees starting to break. And then what looked like a wave that was 10 to 15 feet, not in the traditional sense of a wave but water, massive water rushing at us, closing a gap. I don't think I've ever run that fast.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water just came up like a gigantic wave and took the water bungle, took all of the deck. The deck came flying in through the windows at us. And I said, let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Started off being able to stand up in it and then it covered chairs and mattresses started coming at you. And I got out of the way and ended up on some sort of pier going out to sea. And there was people on the beach in the early morning just being washed down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We climbed up a tree while the water was breaking right at our feet, the waves. We head up the tree and went higher and higher until we were right at the top and we couldn't go any higher and we just waited until the water level eventually dropped.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before the wave came in, there was a massive under toe. And in 15 to 30 seconds, something like 200 yards -- I'm sorry, 2,000 yards of water just got sucked right out to sea. And anybody who was in the water at that point up to their knees or so got yanked right out. There was just no hope for those. People described seeing literally thousands of people on the beach and one minute and the next minute, those people were gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly we saw the water advance. To start with we thought it was just the sea and then the second wave was a lot stronger. And we rushed up stairs. It happened a few times within about an hour in between. And the third wave that hit the hotel. Devastated the bottom half, the lower floors and so on. And we were at top on the third floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The children were playing on the beach when I came running down to find them and my wife, Libby. The sea was a flat calm but with one big exception, a 20-foot wave was coming in shore very quickly indeed. Five year-old Peter was staring at the wave, mesmerized. I lunched forward and grabbed him. Obviously with the wave pursuing us pretty rapidly, Peter and I were moving rather more quickly than we are this morning. My wife Libby and my daughter Elizabeth headed for our bungalow over there but I knew myself and if little fellow here wouldn't make it. We listened to the wave breaking on the beach. There was a big bang as it came through those trees.
I suppose we reached about here before we were washed away. We were then carried about 40 yards. The wave carried us both through this little gap between these two bungalows. All of the time I was aware of the debris the wave picked up on its journey. Peter and I ended up actually down there in this field. Here are some of the tree trunks and other bits of debris the wave carried with us. Fortunately, they missed us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The room filled up within 30 seconds first of all to three foot and then we walked out of the rooms and one of our friends couldn't get out of the room and we woke up and the sleep in his bed, lying -- woke up in water. Threw the TV out of the window to climb out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We turned around and all of a sudden there was a 25 to 30-footwall of water rushing towards you probably at 40 miles an hour. And you had little time to try and get to higher ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Having stood in the water literally, within two seconds from ankle high to shoulder height, you usually imagine a tidal wave, like you see in the movies, the big wave. Waves that hit and certainly the force from other resorts, they all came in very hard and fast. It was built like watching a bath run to the top.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a total roar. I looked through the glass doors and this water just came down the steps and through the doors. It washed me away and downstairs, glass doors was smashed by the water and I just couldn't keep my footing. I was very frightened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was this hut and we heard a little girl crying. We went in there and dragged her out. She ended up going out and we just found out today she didn't make it either. But four of them perished yesterday and this was a small village, about 800 people and the lost five right there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Children are less able to run away from this kind of a flood. They're less able to hang on to a tree. They're less able to swim for their lives. So we're afraid that in fact children were affected, especially those who were caught in the raging waves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm searching for my mother. Leon Echocom (ph) she's from Holland. She's 53 years old. She's missing from the Calok (ph) Maryland Beach Resort. We have still hope and we are not going to leave without her. Strange, dead or alive, but we have to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have three false alarms. Last night we found someone on Pierce Island, spelled with a y rather than an I in the sur name. When we tracked him down, it was someone completely someone different from England who was on a holiday. So you have lots of leads which you follow and you get excited and then you find some information that takes you off that trail.
But you have to remain positive. You know, miracles do happen and if you start to believe that the worse has happened, you start to crumble. So you just remain positive all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's horrible. Sounded like a jet engine just right maybe five feet behind you. People screaming as maybe the water hit them. It was trees cracking, houses exploding. It was just so horrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in the water in the middle of the sea. And I didn't have anything with me. My parent was gone and wash off in the water. Only are my top and I just -- so I was tired of swimming. I had the god given gift, father given gift to me, I have to swim. I started swimming with lots and lots of hope that I may find somebody, my father, my family might be waiting for me. I still have hopes that my parents are alive searching for me. I'm all right, papa, mama, please come back again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could hear my wife scream. I know where she was. And I was hiding behind the roof. I went around to get her. And just all hell broke loose and that was the last time I saw her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): I was at work when some people came to me and told me that huge waves were lashing the shore and my family was in danger. I rushed home and managed to rescue my mother. I took her to the hospital. By the time I returned, I realized my daughter was missing. I looked up hospitals for her but could not find her. After three days I found her body in the debris of my house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We left paradise. It was a beautiful island and we came back to just hell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): We never felt that it was a tsunami. It was a big tide. They have big tides there every day. Well, it came and went and everybody calmed down. We came back to look at the damage. Find their loved ones. That's when the second wave came. An elderly lady was stuck in the side of a balcony and she was lying in the water in her back with her head just barely above water. Chairs and benches and all sorts of junk were piling up on her and crushing her. Her elderly husband couldn't help her, but two other guys came running up and five of us pulled her out of there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a little panic, a lot of people were hysterical. A lot of the children were grabbing hold of me and people around. And like the mothers of children who -- there was one particular mother who had about three or four children around and obviously she didn't have enough arms to hold the children. She was imploring me to grab a hold of her children and look after her children, so I did. So I was trying to grab a hold of many people as possible as well as secure myself.
It was like a sea of dead bodies children and women mainly. Majority of them were children. I had to clear a path through the water by pushing the people and heading for land. It was just a case of survival.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Better to be here than sitting at home and see it on the television. So we asked to be here and see what we can do, if we can find her or figure out what happened to her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since it happened, just stuck by the phone, you know, 24/7. I haven't heard from him. So now took the bull by the horns and flying out tomorrow to Thailand myself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With sent pictures out, posters all around the hospitals, you know, everybody is trying their best.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are many regions still untouched by medical hands. My personal opinion, having seen the destruction, is that the accounts that have been given, based on the body counts are only a small fraction of the final toll of what it's likely to be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps the biggest challenge now is the water and the sanitation and the emergency food and the emergency shelter for hundreds of thousands of homeless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): We are trying to provide people what they require the most at this time, like food utensils, water, clothing, et cetera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sanitation equipment, water tanks, taps, basically toilet facilities. There's 27 tons going on the plane and what it will do is bring clean water to at least 175,000 people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're doing our best here. We're collecting money from the temple.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need everything, floats, materials, medicine, band-aids, whatever that are needed, they are bringing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a huge operation, clearly we're four days out from this event already. Bodies are lying unrefrigerated, deteriorating rapidly. The Thai authorities have done a great excellent job, I think, in quite extraordinary difficult circumstances. This would challenge the most developed country in the world, the scale of this problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sea is like a mother, the land the father, he says. We love the sea and respect it like god. But now we are weary. We are petrified, he says. We wonder now, can we continue our livelihood on the high seas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are so generous. Missing families and they brought up food and supplies and we all sort of camped out on top of this jungle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was speaking with people who have lost their homes and a number of fishermen who lost their livelihoods. And to be able to get on a plane and get away with it left a very unsettling feeling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were no villages left standings about 100 kilometers north. It's like a nuclear blast has hit the area. It's completely leveled everything except for just a few structures. We've seen nothing at all of the ones built out of wood and that probably constitutes the most.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): Entire families have been wiped away. Children have been separated from their parents. There are dead bodies all over. We are more worried about people who are in the forest and are injured because no aid reached them yet. I hope the government can do something for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): My boat is somewhere out there he says. I don't know where my family is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translator): The water was rising in the sea was coming. We ran for our lives but it caught us and the water almost came up to our necks. We managed to escape from the first wave, which destroyed our house. The second wave came and took us by surprise. There was just so much water I didn't know what to do.
When the second wave came, we were looking for our son, and my husband went out to search for him and found him in a tree. He rescued him and both of them were running for their lives. Later, my son was found alive but my husband was missing. He had been drowned. So we don't know what to do next. Right now we don't have a source of income. We'll need to look for jobs but they are scarce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): My main thoughts were about the people who died. Nothing was clear. We figured some had been taken to sea. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): My friend here, they died, dead. I don't have nobody. I am searching but nothing left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I saw, it was -- it was really exciting for me. When you see what happened, you see the carnage and you realize that how lucky we are as a family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They called him the miracle boy. And today there was one more miracle waiting or little Hanas Burgstrom (ph). His father the 20-month-old was separated from his parents when the tsunami hit Phuket, an American family found him unconscious, wrapped in blankets to the top of the hill. No one knew if he would even survive, but he did. His father, recovering from his injuries in another hospital, wondered if he would ever see his little boy again. His prayers were answered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was frightened. I did not think I would survive. The rescue team found my son in the mangrove. Not me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew I had to let go of one of them and I let go of the one that was the oldest and I grabbed hold of him for a moment but she said she had to let him go because she was going under. And I was screaming, trying to find him and we -- he was dead. I'm just so thankful that I've still got my two kids with me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine that if you had just lost your entire worldly possessions and perhaps more, parents, children, that you would turn around and offer kindness. One man went down to the village or whatever was left of it. I don't know how he did it. And brought up rice, some of the best-tasting rice we had ever had. And he didn't have to do that. I don't know why he did it. I think it's a testament to the Thai people, the generosity of the spirit, just a magical group.
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WHITFIELD: The worst from nature has brought out the best of humanity. The aftermath of the tsunami disaster has seen outpouring of support from around the world. CNN's Ram Ramgopal brings us the story of one volunteer in India who traveled thousands of miles to give a helping hand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAM RAMGOPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the shores of (INAUDIBLE) handouts for the hungry. Last Sunday this area was inundated by the tsunami, among the worst affected districts in Chennani. The city formally know Madras (ph). One week on, a sea of humanity is surging for help in the form of food, clothing, anything anyone can provide.
Because of its urban setting this is among the better organized distribution points. But here, as in many other places, the need is reflected in long lines that stretch into the distance. As these people patiently await their turn, a humanitarian hand provides substance. It's the hand of Thomas Cheng, an insurance executive from Malaysia, touched by the suffering he saw on TV, Cheng was moved to travel thousands of miles at his own cost to help in the relief work here.
THOMAS CHENG: I see the people here, there are hungry faces and suffering is just overwhelming.
RAMGOPAL: Cheng is also capturing the experience on his own camcorder. Here at the relief camp he helped serve dinner to up to 350 people.
CHENG: We realize we're all brothers and sisters. Others if one brother suffers, we also feel the same.
RAMGOPAL: On this marina beach, the damage is extensive. This shanty town in the sands has been nearly leveled. Dozens drowned in these waters. Today the focus is on basics like food. Tomorrow it will be about much larger issues. A roof over these people's heads their livelihoods, school. In the historic cathedral, a prayer is said for the lost souls of Asia and candles are lit to dispel the darkness. Ron Ramgopai, CNN, Chennai, India.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Some remarkable pictures, it's just so hard to imagine how anyone is able to just cope.
O'BRIEN: Yes the human spirit is an amazing thing because this tragedy is so hard to comprehend and yet people will somehow, some way bounce back. It's going to take a long time.
WHITFIELD: Well that's going to do it for this hour. Still ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY, the Tamil Tigers.
O'BRIEN: The U.S. and other countries call them terrorists but in Sri Lanka they're also leading the way in relief efforts. We'll take you to the control territory straight ahead for this story you will see only on CNN. Stay with us.
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