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Worries About Safety of Children Who May be Orphaned, Abandoned Now That Disaster Has Waned; Americans Desperately Awaiting Word of Loved Ones

Aired January 05, 2005 - 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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell did a flyover of some of the worst devastation. He said he is shocked. The damage is almost beyond comprehension. It's 7:00 p.m. here in Phuket, Thailand, the provincial capital of this area, now in many ways the center of a grieving nation. More than 5,000 are confirmed dead now; more than 3,800 are still missing, millions, of course, affected worldwide.
This morning, we've got the story of a little boy still missing. His father is desperately searching for him. We'll talk to him this morning.

Also we're going to tell you about some efforts to get back to normal, also getting the economy back online. That's ahead this morning from here in Thailand -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Soledad, good evening to you there, and good morning to folks in the U.S. CNN has reporters all over the tsunami-damaged region, bringing you the latest on rescue and aid efforts. Here now this morning at 7:00 in New York are the new developments that we have. Hospitals in Aceh, Indonesia overwhelmed by the number of injured swarming in from the hardest hit areas. This is new videotape aerials over that area. The U.N. Reports 50,000 children are dead; 13,000 have lost their parents. In all, 1.5 million now in need of assistance.

U.S. secretary of State Colin Powell says even the little he has seen so far is beyond his own experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECY. OF STATE: I've been in war, and I've been through a number of hurricanes, tornadoes and other relief operations, but I have never seen anything like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Secretary Powell attempts tomorrow's international relief conference. That's in Jakarta, Indonesia, and briefs the president and Congress after that. The U.S. will increase the number of military helicopters bringing supplies and picking up the injured from 46 to 90. Millions, meanwhile, in Europe stood in silence for three minutes this morning in remembrance of lives lost. A short time ago there was a live picture from Phuket, Thailand, just now on a videotape, as a candlelight memorial was now under way there, now 7:00 in the evening local time in Thailand.

That's where we go back now to my partner and Soledad O'Brien again there -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.

Let's talk a little bit about normalcy. The schoolchildren have returned to school after a scheduled break. In the Pyongya (ph) province, though, this area that was overrun really by the tsunami homes, literally washed away, a huge percentage of those killed were children, so a staggering to report to you this morning, a snapshot possibly of other regions, 124 children in school, only 26 of them returning. How many of them died in the waves, and how many of them are just displaced temporarily, we do not know at this time.

Relief efforts by groups like World Vision, which has set up temporary centers in Pyongya (ph) continue to bring in basic supplies. No infrastructure though, no businesses, no schools, obviously no homes in many areas. The devastation could bring a second catastrophe to the area. The region obviously relying very heavily on tourism, an estimated $8 billion that it brings into Thailand. Survivors have been making it very clear that they want to repay the help that the Thai people have given them by encouraging people to come in and spend their money and help Thailand rebuild.

For survivors who have lost loved ones, the goal is to get the word out, and that means spending the days going to the wall, and also making sure that they are getting relief efforts to everyone, whether they're tourists or they are citizens of Thailand, getting it out to them.

But back to the survivors and their mission, the word out, that is the mission of one father we'll talk to tonight. His name is Anders Ericsson, and his 2.5 son is missing.

Thank you for coming in to talk with us.

Tell me a little bit about what your mission is tonight?

ANDERS ERICSSON, SEARCHING FOR SON: Our mission is to spread information about Eranma (ph) and of his disappearance. We have to collect as much information about him and his destiny. That's what I owe him as his father.

O'BRIEN: We are showing a picture of him, and he is very similar looking to another little boy, Hans Bergstrom (ph), who was found. How has that complicated your search?

ERICSSON: It has caused some complications, but because it's very similar, and at first we also thought that he was our son, and we went to Phuket and found out otherwise. Hans is found, and he is younger than Eranma, but they look very much alike, and we still get information about Eranma, but it's Hans.

O'BRIEN: Tell me what happened that day. You were in Khao Lak (ph), which is just about two half hours north of where we are now. What happened?

ERICSSON: That's correct. We were staying at the beach resort at the beachfront in Kau Lak, at Bangyon (ph) Beach, and we were having this fabulous morning. We were at the back of the complex, which is a two-story high bungalow, and we were playing in the pool, when someone came screaming that we had to get as high as we could before the tsunami was coming, so we just picked up our things and ran up the stairs to a room that was open from our friends, at the second floor, and I was -- we were gathering people there from the beach because everything was happening so fast.

When the wave hit, first it smashed the windows on the second floor, and in a moment, the concrete wall was busted and we were flushed out of the room. And I was holding my son in my arms, and he had these blue swimming arms on him, and the last thing he said to me is, "Daddy, I'm scared. Please help." We were flushed out, and caught in debris, and the water was crazy. You were up. You were down. You were underneath, swimming around cars, refrigerators, furniture, fallen down trees and everything else.

The palm trees came upon us. We were traveling in this wave in 30, 35 kilometers per hour, and we went above the palm trees. The palm trees were just small bushes sticking up. I tried to change the grip around his hand. I lost him, and since he was smaller than me, he just drifted away from me. I caught myself up in a tree about 90 meters up inland, where I climbed up and held on.

My wife, she was flushed 2,500 meters across the main road, and into the rubber tree plantation. We found each other 24 hours later, and found out that we were alive.

O'BRIEN: You have put your number for people in Thailand to reach you.

ERICSSON: Yes. Yes.

O'BRIEN: It's on the picture. People can see it as they look at this picture of your son. Do you spend the day going to hospitals and following up on leads? Any worthwhile leads so far?

ERICSSON: At the moment, we are following up -- the work has been very much getting out the message with a picture to anyone who has seen him or can identify him in any way can contact us for good for bad news. We just have to find out.

We have been out looking. There has been a lot of rumors that there's still European children at hospitals, but all of that has been checked out from the Malaysian border all up the coast, Sugatoni (ph) and Bangkok. So he is not in a hospital, we're pretty sure about that.

O'BRIEN: You want good news or bad news on this.

ERICSSON: We...

O'BRIEN: I mean, you obviously want good news, but you want anybody with any news.

ERICSSON: We want good news, but if the news is bad, we have to know what happened to our son, and if there's someone who has seen him, we are grateful for any help that you can provide news our search for our son.

O'BRIEN: He's two and a half years old.

ERICSSON: He's two and a half years old. He's a pretty big boy for being, he is 96 centimeters long, is he is about 18 kilos, blonde hair, blue eyes. He had these blue swimming arms on him last seen, and he also had a small triangular birthmark on his lower left side back.

O'BRIEN: Anders Ericcson, thank you for coming in to talk to us and spread the word, and I hope the next time we talk it's a story of how you're reunited with your son. I appreciate it. Thank you.

ERICSSON: Thank you very much.

O'BRIEN: As Anders mentioned, there are worries about the safety of children who are may be orphaned or even abandoned now that the disaster has waned. It's been heightened by a report specifically of a young Swedish survivor, that he was kidnapped, and Swedish police have been sent into Thailand, doing an investigation into a report that a 12-year-old named Kristian Walker was taken in by an unidentified man. Kristian's father says he has to assume his son that his son, then, was abducted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN WALKER, FATHER OF MISSING BOY: You have to take precautions, assuming the worst, because you can't assume that it's a confused, old man, nice man taking care of Kristian in this hot summer, not understanding better and then fine, let's wait at the police station to see what happens. You have assume he's been taken away against his will, you can assume trafficking, you have to assume that he's no longer in Thailand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The boy's mother has been missing since the disaster, and coming up in our next hour, Matthew Chance is going to talk with us a little bit more about that story. You can imagine the heartbreak and the determination of parents who want to know anything they can about their children. Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: Tough, tough stuff just to listen to. Soledad, thanks, in Phuket.

CNN has a team that is unmatched in four different countries in Southeast Asia. Stay with us for the latest news and developments as we get them. Later tonight at 7:00 Eastern, our CNN special report, where "Turning the Tide" will begin. And tomorrow night, Thursday evening at 10:00 Eastern, don't miss our primetime special, "Saving the Children." Christiane, Anderson, Soledad, Sanjay, our entire team will take part in that special primetime on Thursday evening.

I want to say good morning to Heidi Collins with me here in New York, looking at the other headlines. How are you? Good morning.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm good. Thanks, Bill. "Now in the News" this morning, within the past hour, CNN has learned of an attack on Iraqi security forces. Iraqi police say a suicide bomb exploded outside a police academy south of Baghdad, killing at least ten people, wounding dozens of others. Just moments ago Iraq's interim leader spoke out, saying the violence would not sidetrack this month's elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQ INTERIM PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The government is committed to holding elections as scheduled, and this is agreed upon by the Iraq government and also by the U.N.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We will have more on the developments in Iraq throughout the show this morning.

President Bush is set for his first road trip of the new year. The president will participate in a meeting today on medical liability reform in Madison County, Illinois. Some business groups say the county has the worst civil court systems in the country. CNN will have live coverage of the presidential event. It starts at about 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

And finally, University of Southern California now stands alone at the top of college football. Trojan quarterback Mike Leinart threw a record five touchdown -- that's Matt Leinart, pardon me. Five touchdown passes to beat Oklahoma, 55-19 in the Orange Bowl last night. The win gives USC an undisputed national title. Last year the team shared that title with LSU. I couldn't even remember his name because I was trying to forget.

HEMMER: Who took the Trojans, huh, huh?

COLLINS: I -- you know. I just thought Oklahoma was there last year, they didn't want to ...

HEMMER: It's a cup of coffee. It's only like a $1.70. Well, in New York, it's like $10. Thanks, Heidi.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Well, the past ten days have been agonizing for Americans trying to find relatives in Southeast Asia. Are they getting answers?

HEMMER: Also in a moment, life now for the children of the tsunami, back from a winter break that went from holiday to absolute tragedy. COLLINS: Plus a CNN "Security Watch." A New Jersey man charged with aiming lasers at cockpits. Is he just a sacrificial lamb? Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We're 18 minutes now past the hour. The U.S. State Department says at least 16 Americans are known to have died in the disaster, but it is less certain about the number of U.S. citizens in that region unaccounted for.

Among Americans there desperately awaiting word of loved ones, one of those people is Michael Bernard. His brother is Roy. Sent an e-mail the 21st of December saying he and his girlfriend were heading for Sumatra. That is the last word that the family has gotten from their brother.

Michael Bernard, my guest now here in New York. Good morning to you.

MICHAEL BERNARD, BROTHER MISSING: Good morning.

HEMMER: I'm not quite sure how you're doing, but I think we'll figure out through the course of this interview. Your brother was headed for Sumatra. Is that right?

BERNARD: Yes.

HEMMER: For what purpose would he be going there?

BERNARD: His girlfriend is Japanese and wanted to show him her part of the world for vacation. So last year they went to Thailand. This year, it's Indonesia. That's why he's there.

HEMMER: He travels the world doing work in poor villages, like where?

BERNARD: In Puerto Rico, in a squatters village up in the mountains of Puerto Rico. In a village of displaced Mayan Indians in Guatemala and down in Ecuador.

HEMMER: Would they have destined, Michael, for Sumatra just as tourists or would they have gone there to help out?

BERNARD: They were initially there as tourists, but they are the kind of people that in a disaster they will turn around and do whatever they can to help wherever they can.

HEMMER: So you're saying it's possible he would have gone there to help rebuild and help out the people there, and might still be there now?

BERNARD: He might possibly, yes. He was headed there before the disaster. He didn't know anything about the disaster when he was headed to Sumatra. So I really don't know.

O'BRIEN: On the calendar, December 21st is about two weeks ago.

BERNARD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: How often would he go normally without contacting you or someone in your family?

BERNARD: Over the Christmas holidays, we would normally have contacted us within a day or two of Christmas. Every year, he takes these kind of trips, and every year he manages to call his mother within a day or two of Christmas, and the fact that we haven't heard from him in this long a time has got us all very worried. His girlfriend has a 15-year-old son, who she would normally contact on a regular basis, and they've heard nothing as well.

O'BRIEN: What are you doing for information? Who do you call? Who do you contact?

BERNARD: It isn't easy to figure this out. We called the State Department and added their names to the list of missing people. We looked on the Internet for Web sites that were assembling lists of missing people, and we put their names on the CNN site, on the Lonely Planet's list, a couple of others. I have a half brother who is older than me, who called the U.S. embassy in Jakarta and also USAID.

O'BRIEN: You just keep on going down the list.

BERNARD: That's right.

O'BRIEN: I imagine there's a huge emotional toll right now and also frustrating, too, that you can't get the answers that you're looking for as well.

BERNARD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: My best to you. How are you holding up?

BERNARD: I'm doing reasonably well. My mother is doing less well. She's very upset, and every day that goes by without hearing, she gets a little more upset.

O'BRIEN: I can only imagine. My best to you and to your mother and the rest of your family. And hang in there, OK. Our thoughts are with you, Michael Bernard, my guest here in New York City.

I want to let our viewers know, if you want to find out more about efforts to locate friends or relatives missing in Southeast Asia, you can call us here at CNN, 404-878-1500, you can send us an e- mail, too. Look for the link at to CNN.com/tsunami. It is on our Web site as we speak.

Michael, again, thanks to you.

Let's get a break. Andy is "Minding Your Business" this morning. How drastic will Delta's fare cuts be? Andy's got the lowdown on that, when we continue in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The news on ticket prices just keeps getting better for air travelers. Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" on this. I know a lot of people are waiting for the fares to go down.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: As usual, it's not a straightforward story with the airlines, Heidi. And this, of course, we're talking about Delta Airlines cutting its fares, a story first reported in "Time" magazine over the weekend. On the surface, it looks pretty good. For instance, if you're flying from Richmond to Atlanta, your fares are going to be a whole lot lower. Before you were paying 600 bucks. Now you might be paying $270. Delta is doing a bunch of things. They're simplifying the airline structure, the fees, but also they're capping fares at $499 for a coach ticket.

Now the wrinkle here is that that's $200 more still than what Jetblue or Southwest charges. So what kind of a bargain is that? Newspaper ads all across the country announcing this deal. Northwest Airlines saying it's bad for the industry. Cry me a river, and then there's some other things going on here that they're adding leather seats, new uniforms for the flight attendants. Gee, that's good. And then I like this line, new food product. That's very appetizing. They're also encouraging you to buy tickets on the Web. I'm sorry if I'm a little cynical about this...

HEMMER: Did you say new food or good food?

SERWER: New food. Sorry, excuse me, new food product. That's how they put it. Doesn't that want to make you go out and eat?

COLLINS: Yes, yummy.

SERWER: Anyway, so it's interesting. It's worth checking out, but you have to buy the tickets online to get the full effect. It's stuff you have really to pour through a little bit.

COLLINS: Yes, definitely. All right, Andy, thanks for that.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Here is Jack now on the Question of the Day.

Good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill.

How far does a judge's authority extend? New York family court judge Marilyn O'Connor has ordered a drug-addicted woman to stop having kids until she proves she can care for the ones she already has, seven of them, ranging in age from eight months to 12 years with seven different fathers. The 31-year-old unidentified mother lost custody of her children in child-neglect hearings over the last five years. Six of them are currently in foster care at the state's expense.

This is the second time the Judge O'Connor has ordered a woman to stop having babies. The first ruling is being appealed. No other states have upheld this kind of ruling. The New York Civil Liberties Union says the judge's decision is unenforceable, because it tramples on the fundamental right of individuals to procreate.

Here's the question, can a judge order a woman to stop having children? If they can order this particular woman to stop having children, I guess the answer is no, you can't.

SERWER: That is incredible.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

By the way, your question yesterday about AIDS, you see what Michael Schumacher did, the European race car driver, $10 million of his own cash chipping in.

CAFFERTY: What a nicer guy he is.

SERWER: More than certain countries, right?

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: That's true. I've got an update on that story, though, later. We'll do it in the File. We have new information as they say.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

COLLINS: Thanks, Jack.

It is Wednesday morning, though, so we want to go ahead and get an early look at "90-Second Pop."

Hollywood has a heart during a crisis, but are some stars hunting for good PR, not goodwill? Plus, a lifetime of good music finally pays off for one of the biggest rock bands ever, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired January 5, 2005 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell did a flyover of some of the worst devastation. He said he is shocked. The damage is almost beyond comprehension. It's 7:00 p.m. here in Phuket, Thailand, the provincial capital of this area, now in many ways the center of a grieving nation. More than 5,000 are confirmed dead now; more than 3,800 are still missing, millions, of course, affected worldwide.
This morning, we've got the story of a little boy still missing. His father is desperately searching for him. We'll talk to him this morning.

Also we're going to tell you about some efforts to get back to normal, also getting the economy back online. That's ahead this morning from here in Thailand -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Soledad, good evening to you there, and good morning to folks in the U.S. CNN has reporters all over the tsunami-damaged region, bringing you the latest on rescue and aid efforts. Here now this morning at 7:00 in New York are the new developments that we have. Hospitals in Aceh, Indonesia overwhelmed by the number of injured swarming in from the hardest hit areas. This is new videotape aerials over that area. The U.N. Reports 50,000 children are dead; 13,000 have lost their parents. In all, 1.5 million now in need of assistance.

U.S. secretary of State Colin Powell says even the little he has seen so far is beyond his own experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECY. OF STATE: I've been in war, and I've been through a number of hurricanes, tornadoes and other relief operations, but I have never seen anything like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Secretary Powell attempts tomorrow's international relief conference. That's in Jakarta, Indonesia, and briefs the president and Congress after that. The U.S. will increase the number of military helicopters bringing supplies and picking up the injured from 46 to 90. Millions, meanwhile, in Europe stood in silence for three minutes this morning in remembrance of lives lost. A short time ago there was a live picture from Phuket, Thailand, just now on a videotape, as a candlelight memorial was now under way there, now 7:00 in the evening local time in Thailand.

That's where we go back now to my partner and Soledad O'Brien again there -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.

Let's talk a little bit about normalcy. The schoolchildren have returned to school after a scheduled break. In the Pyongya (ph) province, though, this area that was overrun really by the tsunami homes, literally washed away, a huge percentage of those killed were children, so a staggering to report to you this morning, a snapshot possibly of other regions, 124 children in school, only 26 of them returning. How many of them died in the waves, and how many of them are just displaced temporarily, we do not know at this time.

Relief efforts by groups like World Vision, which has set up temporary centers in Pyongya (ph) continue to bring in basic supplies. No infrastructure though, no businesses, no schools, obviously no homes in many areas. The devastation could bring a second catastrophe to the area. The region obviously relying very heavily on tourism, an estimated $8 billion that it brings into Thailand. Survivors have been making it very clear that they want to repay the help that the Thai people have given them by encouraging people to come in and spend their money and help Thailand rebuild.

For survivors who have lost loved ones, the goal is to get the word out, and that means spending the days going to the wall, and also making sure that they are getting relief efforts to everyone, whether they're tourists or they are citizens of Thailand, getting it out to them.

But back to the survivors and their mission, the word out, that is the mission of one father we'll talk to tonight. His name is Anders Ericsson, and his 2.5 son is missing.

Thank you for coming in to talk with us.

Tell me a little bit about what your mission is tonight?

ANDERS ERICSSON, SEARCHING FOR SON: Our mission is to spread information about Eranma (ph) and of his disappearance. We have to collect as much information about him and his destiny. That's what I owe him as his father.

O'BRIEN: We are showing a picture of him, and he is very similar looking to another little boy, Hans Bergstrom (ph), who was found. How has that complicated your search?

ERICSSON: It has caused some complications, but because it's very similar, and at first we also thought that he was our son, and we went to Phuket and found out otherwise. Hans is found, and he is younger than Eranma, but they look very much alike, and we still get information about Eranma, but it's Hans.

O'BRIEN: Tell me what happened that day. You were in Khao Lak (ph), which is just about two half hours north of where we are now. What happened?

ERICSSON: That's correct. We were staying at the beach resort at the beachfront in Kau Lak, at Bangyon (ph) Beach, and we were having this fabulous morning. We were at the back of the complex, which is a two-story high bungalow, and we were playing in the pool, when someone came screaming that we had to get as high as we could before the tsunami was coming, so we just picked up our things and ran up the stairs to a room that was open from our friends, at the second floor, and I was -- we were gathering people there from the beach because everything was happening so fast.

When the wave hit, first it smashed the windows on the second floor, and in a moment, the concrete wall was busted and we were flushed out of the room. And I was holding my son in my arms, and he had these blue swimming arms on him, and the last thing he said to me is, "Daddy, I'm scared. Please help." We were flushed out, and caught in debris, and the water was crazy. You were up. You were down. You were underneath, swimming around cars, refrigerators, furniture, fallen down trees and everything else.

The palm trees came upon us. We were traveling in this wave in 30, 35 kilometers per hour, and we went above the palm trees. The palm trees were just small bushes sticking up. I tried to change the grip around his hand. I lost him, and since he was smaller than me, he just drifted away from me. I caught myself up in a tree about 90 meters up inland, where I climbed up and held on.

My wife, she was flushed 2,500 meters across the main road, and into the rubber tree plantation. We found each other 24 hours later, and found out that we were alive.

O'BRIEN: You have put your number for people in Thailand to reach you.

ERICSSON: Yes. Yes.

O'BRIEN: It's on the picture. People can see it as they look at this picture of your son. Do you spend the day going to hospitals and following up on leads? Any worthwhile leads so far?

ERICSSON: At the moment, we are following up -- the work has been very much getting out the message with a picture to anyone who has seen him or can identify him in any way can contact us for good for bad news. We just have to find out.

We have been out looking. There has been a lot of rumors that there's still European children at hospitals, but all of that has been checked out from the Malaysian border all up the coast, Sugatoni (ph) and Bangkok. So he is not in a hospital, we're pretty sure about that.

O'BRIEN: You want good news or bad news on this.

ERICSSON: We...

O'BRIEN: I mean, you obviously want good news, but you want anybody with any news.

ERICSSON: We want good news, but if the news is bad, we have to know what happened to our son, and if there's someone who has seen him, we are grateful for any help that you can provide news our search for our son.

O'BRIEN: He's two and a half years old.

ERICSSON: He's two and a half years old. He's a pretty big boy for being, he is 96 centimeters long, is he is about 18 kilos, blonde hair, blue eyes. He had these blue swimming arms on him last seen, and he also had a small triangular birthmark on his lower left side back.

O'BRIEN: Anders Ericcson, thank you for coming in to talk to us and spread the word, and I hope the next time we talk it's a story of how you're reunited with your son. I appreciate it. Thank you.

ERICSSON: Thank you very much.

O'BRIEN: As Anders mentioned, there are worries about the safety of children who are may be orphaned or even abandoned now that the disaster has waned. It's been heightened by a report specifically of a young Swedish survivor, that he was kidnapped, and Swedish police have been sent into Thailand, doing an investigation into a report that a 12-year-old named Kristian Walker was taken in by an unidentified man. Kristian's father says he has to assume his son that his son, then, was abducted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN WALKER, FATHER OF MISSING BOY: You have to take precautions, assuming the worst, because you can't assume that it's a confused, old man, nice man taking care of Kristian in this hot summer, not understanding better and then fine, let's wait at the police station to see what happens. You have assume he's been taken away against his will, you can assume trafficking, you have to assume that he's no longer in Thailand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The boy's mother has been missing since the disaster, and coming up in our next hour, Matthew Chance is going to talk with us a little bit more about that story. You can imagine the heartbreak and the determination of parents who want to know anything they can about their children. Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: Tough, tough stuff just to listen to. Soledad, thanks, in Phuket.

CNN has a team that is unmatched in four different countries in Southeast Asia. Stay with us for the latest news and developments as we get them. Later tonight at 7:00 Eastern, our CNN special report, where "Turning the Tide" will begin. And tomorrow night, Thursday evening at 10:00 Eastern, don't miss our primetime special, "Saving the Children." Christiane, Anderson, Soledad, Sanjay, our entire team will take part in that special primetime on Thursday evening.

I want to say good morning to Heidi Collins with me here in New York, looking at the other headlines. How are you? Good morning.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm good. Thanks, Bill. "Now in the News" this morning, within the past hour, CNN has learned of an attack on Iraqi security forces. Iraqi police say a suicide bomb exploded outside a police academy south of Baghdad, killing at least ten people, wounding dozens of others. Just moments ago Iraq's interim leader spoke out, saying the violence would not sidetrack this month's elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQ INTERIM PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The government is committed to holding elections as scheduled, and this is agreed upon by the Iraq government and also by the U.N.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We will have more on the developments in Iraq throughout the show this morning.

President Bush is set for his first road trip of the new year. The president will participate in a meeting today on medical liability reform in Madison County, Illinois. Some business groups say the county has the worst civil court systems in the country. CNN will have live coverage of the presidential event. It starts at about 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

And finally, University of Southern California now stands alone at the top of college football. Trojan quarterback Mike Leinart threw a record five touchdown -- that's Matt Leinart, pardon me. Five touchdown passes to beat Oklahoma, 55-19 in the Orange Bowl last night. The win gives USC an undisputed national title. Last year the team shared that title with LSU. I couldn't even remember his name because I was trying to forget.

HEMMER: Who took the Trojans, huh, huh?

COLLINS: I -- you know. I just thought Oklahoma was there last year, they didn't want to ...

HEMMER: It's a cup of coffee. It's only like a $1.70. Well, in New York, it's like $10. Thanks, Heidi.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Well, the past ten days have been agonizing for Americans trying to find relatives in Southeast Asia. Are they getting answers?

HEMMER: Also in a moment, life now for the children of the tsunami, back from a winter break that went from holiday to absolute tragedy. COLLINS: Plus a CNN "Security Watch." A New Jersey man charged with aiming lasers at cockpits. Is he just a sacrificial lamb? Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We're 18 minutes now past the hour. The U.S. State Department says at least 16 Americans are known to have died in the disaster, but it is less certain about the number of U.S. citizens in that region unaccounted for.

Among Americans there desperately awaiting word of loved ones, one of those people is Michael Bernard. His brother is Roy. Sent an e-mail the 21st of December saying he and his girlfriend were heading for Sumatra. That is the last word that the family has gotten from their brother.

Michael Bernard, my guest now here in New York. Good morning to you.

MICHAEL BERNARD, BROTHER MISSING: Good morning.

HEMMER: I'm not quite sure how you're doing, but I think we'll figure out through the course of this interview. Your brother was headed for Sumatra. Is that right?

BERNARD: Yes.

HEMMER: For what purpose would he be going there?

BERNARD: His girlfriend is Japanese and wanted to show him her part of the world for vacation. So last year they went to Thailand. This year, it's Indonesia. That's why he's there.

HEMMER: He travels the world doing work in poor villages, like where?

BERNARD: In Puerto Rico, in a squatters village up in the mountains of Puerto Rico. In a village of displaced Mayan Indians in Guatemala and down in Ecuador.

HEMMER: Would they have destined, Michael, for Sumatra just as tourists or would they have gone there to help out?

BERNARD: They were initially there as tourists, but they are the kind of people that in a disaster they will turn around and do whatever they can to help wherever they can.

HEMMER: So you're saying it's possible he would have gone there to help rebuild and help out the people there, and might still be there now?

BERNARD: He might possibly, yes. He was headed there before the disaster. He didn't know anything about the disaster when he was headed to Sumatra. So I really don't know.

O'BRIEN: On the calendar, December 21st is about two weeks ago.

BERNARD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: How often would he go normally without contacting you or someone in your family?

BERNARD: Over the Christmas holidays, we would normally have contacted us within a day or two of Christmas. Every year, he takes these kind of trips, and every year he manages to call his mother within a day or two of Christmas, and the fact that we haven't heard from him in this long a time has got us all very worried. His girlfriend has a 15-year-old son, who she would normally contact on a regular basis, and they've heard nothing as well.

O'BRIEN: What are you doing for information? Who do you call? Who do you contact?

BERNARD: It isn't easy to figure this out. We called the State Department and added their names to the list of missing people. We looked on the Internet for Web sites that were assembling lists of missing people, and we put their names on the CNN site, on the Lonely Planet's list, a couple of others. I have a half brother who is older than me, who called the U.S. embassy in Jakarta and also USAID.

O'BRIEN: You just keep on going down the list.

BERNARD: That's right.

O'BRIEN: I imagine there's a huge emotional toll right now and also frustrating, too, that you can't get the answers that you're looking for as well.

BERNARD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: My best to you. How are you holding up?

BERNARD: I'm doing reasonably well. My mother is doing less well. She's very upset, and every day that goes by without hearing, she gets a little more upset.

O'BRIEN: I can only imagine. My best to you and to your mother and the rest of your family. And hang in there, OK. Our thoughts are with you, Michael Bernard, my guest here in New York City.

I want to let our viewers know, if you want to find out more about efforts to locate friends or relatives missing in Southeast Asia, you can call us here at CNN, 404-878-1500, you can send us an e- mail, too. Look for the link at to CNN.com/tsunami. It is on our Web site as we speak.

Michael, again, thanks to you.

Let's get a break. Andy is "Minding Your Business" this morning. How drastic will Delta's fare cuts be? Andy's got the lowdown on that, when we continue in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The news on ticket prices just keeps getting better for air travelers. Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" on this. I know a lot of people are waiting for the fares to go down.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: As usual, it's not a straightforward story with the airlines, Heidi. And this, of course, we're talking about Delta Airlines cutting its fares, a story first reported in "Time" magazine over the weekend. On the surface, it looks pretty good. For instance, if you're flying from Richmond to Atlanta, your fares are going to be a whole lot lower. Before you were paying 600 bucks. Now you might be paying $270. Delta is doing a bunch of things. They're simplifying the airline structure, the fees, but also they're capping fares at $499 for a coach ticket.

Now the wrinkle here is that that's $200 more still than what Jetblue or Southwest charges. So what kind of a bargain is that? Newspaper ads all across the country announcing this deal. Northwest Airlines saying it's bad for the industry. Cry me a river, and then there's some other things going on here that they're adding leather seats, new uniforms for the flight attendants. Gee, that's good. And then I like this line, new food product. That's very appetizing. They're also encouraging you to buy tickets on the Web. I'm sorry if I'm a little cynical about this...

HEMMER: Did you say new food or good food?

SERWER: New food. Sorry, excuse me, new food product. That's how they put it. Doesn't that want to make you go out and eat?

COLLINS: Yes, yummy.

SERWER: Anyway, so it's interesting. It's worth checking out, but you have to buy the tickets online to get the full effect. It's stuff you have really to pour through a little bit.

COLLINS: Yes, definitely. All right, Andy, thanks for that.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Here is Jack now on the Question of the Day.

Good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill.

How far does a judge's authority extend? New York family court judge Marilyn O'Connor has ordered a drug-addicted woman to stop having kids until she proves she can care for the ones she already has, seven of them, ranging in age from eight months to 12 years with seven different fathers. The 31-year-old unidentified mother lost custody of her children in child-neglect hearings over the last five years. Six of them are currently in foster care at the state's expense.

This is the second time the Judge O'Connor has ordered a woman to stop having babies. The first ruling is being appealed. No other states have upheld this kind of ruling. The New York Civil Liberties Union says the judge's decision is unenforceable, because it tramples on the fundamental right of individuals to procreate.

Here's the question, can a judge order a woman to stop having children? If they can order this particular woman to stop having children, I guess the answer is no, you can't.

SERWER: That is incredible.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

By the way, your question yesterday about AIDS, you see what Michael Schumacher did, the European race car driver, $10 million of his own cash chipping in.

CAFFERTY: What a nicer guy he is.

SERWER: More than certain countries, right?

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: That's true. I've got an update on that story, though, later. We'll do it in the File. We have new information as they say.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

COLLINS: Thanks, Jack.

It is Wednesday morning, though, so we want to go ahead and get an early look at "90-Second Pop."

Hollywood has a heart during a crisis, but are some stars hunting for good PR, not goodwill? Plus, a lifetime of good music finally pays off for one of the biggest rock bands ever, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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