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American Morning
Helping the Smallest Survivors; Stunning Destruction Facing Relief Workers
Aired January 05, 2005 - 08:00 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: After the tsunami, helping the smallest survivors. Are child traffickers now one of the threats?
One little boy lost after the waves -- the anguish of his family, actually hoping he's been kidnapped.
Where to start building when the devastation is so immense. Stunning destruction facing relief workers now.
And the animals who fled the waves. How did they know danger was coming? Explaining a sixth sense on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: This is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
A man who has truly seen virtually everything in war and who's seen other disasters, as well, well, he says he is just shocked. Colin Powell, the secretary of state, flying over some of the worst of the worst. His reaction to that was one of shock.
Here in Phuket, Thailand, where it is about 8:00 p.m., 8:00 on the evening, this hard hit area, frequented by thousands of tourists, many of them now still missing, of course. So many of them among the dead, as well. We've got their stories to talk about this evening -- or, I should say, really for you, Bill, this morning where you are -- good morning to you.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, thanks.
Good evening to you there in Thailand.
8:00 here in New York.
CNN has reporters all over the region bringing you the very latest on the rescue and the aid efforts.
Here are the new developments as we have them at this hour.
Hospitals in Aceh, Indonesia overwhelmed by the number of injured people swarming in from the hardest hit areas. As we talk about this, take note of the videotape. It's the fist time we've seen it, and it is just a scene of devastation there in Sumatra.
The U.N. reports 50,000 children are dead. Thirteen thousand have lost parents. In all, 1.5 million now in need of assistance, just staggering numbers to think about.
The secretary of state, Colin Powell, says even the little he has seen so far is beyond his professional experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I cannot begin to imagine the horror that went through the families and all of the people who heard this noise coming and then had their lives snuffed out by this wave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Secretary Powell's tour continues. Tomorrow, he attends an international relief conference. That's in Jakarta, Indonesia. He'll brief the president and Congress after that.
The U.S. set to increase the number of military helicopters bringing supplies and picking up the injured from 46 choppers to 90.
Millions, meanwhile, in Europe stood in silence for three minutes earlier today in remembrance of the lives lost.
Back to Soledad now in Thailand.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.
The latest from here, back to normalcy. School was on holiday. It's now back in session. But the numbers at one school, I think, very much a show of the devastation and the impact of the tsunami on children. At one school in the Phang Nga Province -- and this sort of goes along with those estimates of 30 percent of the victims being children -- at this one school, 128 children registered. Only 24, though, have showed up for classes. Are they dead, are they missing or are they just temporarily displaced? We do not know at this time.
Relief efforts by groups like World Vision, which has set up temporary centers in Phang Nga, continue to bring in the basic supplies. But there is no infrastructure, no business, no schools and obviously no homes in many, many areas.
And the devastation could bring a second catastrophe. The region relying heavily on tourism and the estimated $8 billion that brings in to the country. Survivors have been making it very clear that they want to repay the help that the Thai people gave to them by encouraging other tourists to come, to spend their money and help Thailand rebuild.
In fact, the focus on rebuilding is one we're going to talk about with Cindy Ratcliffe.
She is the head of the Phuket International Women's Club.
Nice to talk to you.
Thanks for coming in and being with us.
CINDY RATCLIFFE, PHUKET INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S CLUB: Nice to meet you.
O'BRIEN: You've lived here as an expat for 10 years.
RATCLIFFE: Twelve years, actually.
O'BRIEN: Oh, 12 years. Forgive me.
Give me a sense of how personally devastating this has been, considering the work you do here.
RATCLIFFE: It's, for us it's been quite devastating to see something that's been built up -- when we first came here, there was very little here in the way of the tourist industry, not many hotels. And the area, in the 12 years that we've been here, has been built up. And it's quite devastating, particularly in Khaolak, to see how much destruction there is.
Phuket itself hasn't suffered that much. We have been very lucky here. And the hotels, 80 percent of them are back to normal, no damage at all, no infrastructural damage at all.
O'BRIEN: I know you've been helping as -- working as a translator, an interpreter.
Give me a sense of what exactly you're doing or what you've been asked to do.
RATCLIFFE: What I was asked to do, first of all, I went to find out what was needed with the group, the Phuket International Women's Club. We have met women of various nationalities, many nationalities here, who could help. And I went to see what we could do to be of assistance in the way of translating and helping our fellow countrymen who are just about totally lost and abandoned. And I went to the Salagrand (ph) to find out and ended up staying there for three days basically announcing and helping people to do what they have to do, places that they needed to go to if they'd lost their passports and so on. And so they had to make police reports and generally helping them if they needed a translator. And also announcing, calling for other volunteers to do various tasks.
O'BRIEN: As we've mentioned, it could be a double blow if the tourism industry collapses.
RATCLIFFE: It could be a double blow for the...
O'BRIEN: What are the risks there?
RATCLIFFE: Well, that's my biggest fear, that people won't come here, particularly because the embassies are all telling people don't come here, it's dangerous, you might get disease and so on. Whereas if you're here in Phuket, there's no structural damage. We have a good infrastructure. We have water. We have drinking water. We have food.
O'BRIEN: Electricity. RATCLIFFE: Electricity. We have an international airport, where, that's how we got aid in so quickly, I think. It's been amazing to see how everybody has pulled together. The local expat community, with the Thai people, and many people who were here on holiday, volunteering to help, as well.
O'BRIEN: It's been very impressive.
RATCLIFFE: It's been impressive. And the aid has got out immediately to the outlying areas, particularly Khaolak, where, the most devastated area.
O'BRIEN: Terrible.
RATCLIFFE: And I actually worked for the last three days in the technical college, where the students also have been helping. There have been truckloads of supplies that have been coming in. They've unloaded the trucks, separated food, parcels, water...
O'BRIEN: No exaggeration, I think, to say lots and lots to do.
Cindy Ratcliffe, it's nice to have you come in and talk to us about some of your efforts.
Thank you very much for explaining really what is needed here for the people.
RATCLIFFE: Thank you.
And thank you very much for telling people to come back. That is exactly what we need.
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you.
RATCLIFFE: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Swedish police, we should tell you, are investigating rumors that a missing child was abducted. Is believing in this a sign of the sheer and utter desperation of parents who are holding out any hope for anything? Or is there some validity to this story?
CNN's Matthew Chance has our report tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's hard to imagine anyone could do what the family of Kristian Walker say may have happened to their boy. Awash with rumors about the whereabouts of the 12-year-old, his grandfather is making an urgent appeal for information.
DANIEL WALKER, GRANDFATHER OF MISSING BOY: Well, I tell you, I don't know that he's been kidnapped. I should say I'm hoping he's been kidnapped, as opposed to having been killed initially, because if he's been kidnapped, there's a possibility that he's alive. CHANCE: At first, it sounds like a desperate relative grasping for hope. But as he searched for his family in the aftermath of the tsunami, Daniel Walker says he came across doctors who recognized his grandson.
WALKER: At one hospital, two of the doctors, having looked at the photographs, said yes, we think that there was a boy here who was brought in for a rather minor ear complaint, who was never admitted to the hospital. He was brought in as an outpatient by -- together with an adult male, who was a European. They didn't know whether he was Swedish, German, English, whatever. This same man brought the same boy back a second day for additional treatment.
CHANCE: It isn't much, but the lead is being taken seriously by INTERPOL and a volunteer group has been set up to find other missing children and it fears ruthless pedophiles, even gangs, are exploiting the most vulnerable of this disaster.
ERIK LUNGMANN, SWEDISH VOLUNTEER: There is rumors of gangs that are working around here, doing these kind of things. And we just want to do everything we can, and we've done this for quite a while. So I feel we're ahead of a lot of this. Like you heard it by now, but we've been working with this for a couple of days. And authorities are involved. Interpol is involved and they know what they're doing.
CHANCE: But it is a disturbing possibility and one bound to haunt every mother and father that has lost a child here.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: Matthew Chance joins us now.
Matthew, how common or how possible is a rumor like this? On one hand, it seems completely impossible. On the other hand, though, knowing some of the history and what happens here in Thailand, I think there could be some validity.
Give us a sense of what the real truth is.
CHANCE: Well, I think it is possible. And certainly the governments involves, the Swedish government, the Thai government, do want to do everything possible to make sure that they show their publics that they're leaving no stone unturned. And so I think we're seeing a bit of that now with the Swedish, send a team of police out here and with Interpol being involved, as well. They want to really chase up these kinds of reports.
At the same time, here in Thailand, there are pedophiles operating. There are gangs that operate that are involved in human trafficking of other kinds, as well. And so this is a real problem in this country. It goes on all the time. And that's, I think, where the real concern is, and that's what the aid agencies are saying, that people are coming here and exploiting this terrible situation.
O'BRIEN: It is so sad to think that a parent would look at the thought of a child, their child being kidnapped as a positive. I mean, really, I think it really underscores just how horrible this tragedy has been.
CHANCE: Well, exactly. It must have been so difficult for people to just take on board that a member of their family, a child, had been lost in this terrible tsunami, yet alone think that, you know, after you've accepted that, when you believe that the child is dead and gone forever, to then think that there's a possibility that he or she could have survived and then been abducted from his or her hospital bed. It must be absolute torture for these people -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Oh, it is. It is. It's just heartbreaking and I feel like we say that each and every night, but it is just heartbreaking.
Matthew Chance, thank you for that report.
And, Bill, we'll leave it there for now from here.
And let's send it back to you in New York.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks.
We'll see you next hour there in Phuket.
And a reminder to our viewers, an unmatched team of correspondents on the front lines of this story in four different countries, including Soledad.
Stay with CNN throughout the day for the very latest developments as we get them first here.
Later tonight, another reminder, 7:00 Eastern, we'll give you another prime time special, called "Turning the Tide." That's tonight. Then on Thursday night, we'll get you another special at 10:00 Eastern called "Saving the Children."
Our team of correspondents and anchors pitching in on that special, as well.
This is Heidi Collins -- good morning to you.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you.
HEMMER: How are you?
COLLINS: I'm all right.
We want to get to some other news now this morning, though.
Another U.S. soldier has been killed in Iraq. Military sources say an American patrol came under fire overnight in northern Iraq. Two other U.S. soldiers were wounded in that attack. The number of U.S. troops injured since the Iraq war began last March has now passed the 10,000 mark.
Here in the United States, the opposition, some opposition, that is, this morning against Alberto Gonzales. He's President Bush's pick for attorney general. His confirmation hearing is set for tomorrow. But a small group of military veterans is preparing to protest today. They say Gonzales opened the door for the use of torture against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Gonzales is expected to be confirmed.
Delta Airlines is working hard to woo customers. As of today, Delta is cutting domestic fares by up to 50 percent and reducing the fee for changing tickets from $100 to $50. Delta has been expected to slash fares this week, a move aimed at keeping it out of bankruptcy.
Finally, Elizabeth Smart's father says he wants a quick end to the charges against her suspected kidnapper. Smart was found in Salt Lake City nine months after apparently being kidnapped from her home in 2002. According to an Associated Press report, her dad says he wants to spare Smart from an upcoming trial and would consider a plea deal for the suspect, Brian David Mitchell. Prosecutors, though, say they are unaware of any plea discussions.
HEMMER: That's an interesting...
COLLINS: Pretty remarkable.
HEMMER: Yes. An interesting development, too.
Thank you, Heidi.
The weather is getting tough, by the way. This wicked winter system now making its way through the Midwest already today. Bound for Chicago, later Detroit, then the Northeast, that storm has already caused problems across the Great Plains. There is ice about an inch thick in parts of Kansas and Missouri. Trees have been snapped, power lines downed in areas, leaving thousands already in the dark.
Let's get back to Rob Marciano live in Schiller Park, Illinois, just outside the airport at O'Hare -- how are you, Rob?
Good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Doing great, Bill.
The snow is coming down. We've got about two inches on the ground and we're expecting anywhere from six to 12 inches, which may not seem a lot, know but you've got to remember, Chicago and the rest of the Midwest not near a moisture source. So when we talk about the feet of snow that's falling out in the mountains of California or, you know, a couple of feet that could snow in a blizzard out across the Northeast, they're near oceans.
So to get snow here in the double digits, that's a major storm. And this one is expected to be the biggest storm of the season. Obviously, a major metropolitan area, traffic a big issue.
We have a camera shot out to give you a shot of Highway 294 here, which runs north to south, kind of outside the city. If you want to bypass downtown traffic, this is what you take, traveling north to Milwaukee, south to Indiana and the rest of Illinois. You can see the roadways looking pretty good at this time. The last week and a half, temperatures have been well above freezing, so the ground is still warm. But as the snow continues to pick up, we expect more accumulation.
Speaking of accumulation, these pictures out of Desoto, Kansas. One, two and three inches of ice accumulating on tree limbs for sure, and that's bringing down power lines. We had 80,000 people without power in Kansas and in Missouri alone.
And in Nebraska, some counties there with snow totals lining up. Hall County, six inches; Clay County, six inches; Adams and Franklin Counties, 10 inches of snow. Most of Nebraska above the rain-snow line. They're in the snow. Omaha, it's snowing right now.
Where is the rain-snow line? We take you to the radar loop. Chicago right now in the snow. Omaha in the snow. Des Moines in the snow.
South of there and to the east of there is where that rain-snow becomes an icy mix, and that's where the dangerous implications are for sure.
Here in Chicago, the heaviest amounts of snow are expected to begin to pile up later on this afternoon. With that, winds gusting to 30 miles an hour, wind chills in the teens and single numbers.
Behind me is not only a truck stop where some truckers are taking a leave, maybe, resting up for the travel north or south, but O'Hare Airport also behind me. It's likely not going to close, but certainly delays and some cancellations there.
There are political implications, Bill, as far as what they do with the roads around here. Back in 1979, they had 20 inches of snow and the city pretty much shut down. The mayor at the time didn't handle it too well and locals say here that's why he wasn't reelected. So there's a lot of pressure on them to do a good job, and they do a good job here in Chicago -- back to you.
HEMMER: Keep the streets clear and the potholes filled, right?
MARCIANO: That's right.
HEMMER: Two jobs.
Thank you, Rob.
We'll check in later.
COLLINS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you, Bill.
COLLINS: An Alabama man plucks a little boy from a deadly wave as he holds on desperately for his own survival. How he saved one young life while another slipped away. HEMMER: Also, how do children cope mentally with a monumental tragedy? Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at some rather unique approaches, still to come this hour.
COLLINS: And the most surprising tsunami survivors -- animals. Could a sixth sense be used to save human lives? We'll talk about that ahead, on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: With the death toll in Asia now more than 155,000 people, it's interesting to note that the number of animals killed by the tsunami is incredibly low. Did they know something that many humans did not?
William Karesh is with the Wildlife Conservation Society.
He is joining me now to talk a little bit more about this.
Thanks for being here.
WILLIAM KARESH, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: My pleasure.
COLLINS: It really is fascinating. I mean we hear a lot about animals having a sixth sense.
Do you think that came into play here?
KARESH: Yes, and I think, when I think about the sixth sense of animals, it's probably common sense. And what they do is they pay attention to what's around them. Their senses are heightened. And they actually respond. And I think we're tuned out very often.
COLLINS: Well, in particular, there's been some research done about earth tremors, saying that animals really do feel it before humans do.
How does that work in an animal's body, or brain, maybe it is?
KARESH: Well, and I think it's both. I think they're very sensitive in their feet, in their bodies. Certainly, snakes are lying on the ground so they pick it up. But when we look at elephants, they have -- the bottom of their foot is almost like a leather hassock. And they feel it like a drum and they can pick up vibrations.
And then they respond, usually, with fear.
COLLINS: Yes. And we're looking at some of the animals now that were left behind, some -- we see elephants now. But we saw dogs, cats. In fact, during one of our correspondents, Anderson Cooper, was out there in Sri Lanka. During one of his live shots, there was a stray dog that came up to him kind of out of nowhere and surprising to see that these animals even survived. We see it here now. It's just amazing.
Do you think people should be looking to animals for their sixth sense?
KARESH: I think there are a lot of things we can learn from animals. And we see it all over -- or all around the world. The Wildlife Conservation Society, we have hundreds of staff, Indonesian, Malaysians. And I think when you get, when you talk to the people that work in the field, my experience there is you can pick up a lot of clues from the animals. The question is, you know, they're very sensitive to things, but they're not very specific.
COLLINS: Sure.
KARESH: So to run into the forest every time you see a dog running, you know, we'd waste a lot of time. So it's hard.
But we deal with a lot of health issues. So like Ebola, hemorrhagic fever, we see animals dying before people are dying. And you do get an early warning. It's like the canary in the cave.
COLLINS: Yes. And now it seems like hindsight is 20-20.
KARESH: That's right.
COLLINS: When we look back at the behavior of these animals, it's much easier to say well, this is what they were, you know, afraid of. In fact, there was actually another story of someone who survived tsunami. He is an Army veteran with special ops.
Let's go ahead and listen to what he had to say last night on "LARRY KING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE")
STEVEN FOSTER, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: All of a sudden, I was training the guy I was standing there with. The birds flew, the dogs kind of snapped to attention like they were, you know, like pointing a bird or something. They tucked and ran back up the street.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Another instance of that.
KARESH: Sure.
COLLINS: As you said, though, really hard to know what to do and how different that behavior is, if the dog or the animal is just kind of feeling nervous.
KARESH: That's right. But I think one lesson, as I mentioned, was animals tend to pay attention. So that was a great example. The birds flew away and then the other animals key in on that. And then they get nervous, too. So, sometimes I've been out like stalking an elephant and I'll scare some birds. And the elephant notices the birds flying and then the elephant runs away. So they're very sensitive to what's going on.
COLLINS: He knew danger was coming, right. KARESH: And their response is to run. Why not? It's -- they can always come back later if it's safe. So it's -- they're very risk averse, really.
KARESH: If we could only talk to the animals, hmmm?
COLLINS: Absolutely.
KARESH: William Karesh, we appreciate your insight today.
COLLINS: Thank you.
KARESH: Thank you.
COLLINS: Bill.
HEMMER: Heidi, in a moment here, is there trouble ahead for the president's pick for attorney general? There is some grumbling in D.C. this morning. We'll tell you what's that all about in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Czech model Petra Nemcova survived the tsunami. She held on in a tree for eight hours. Her boyfriend still listed as missing. She's in a hospital still in Thailand.
And last night her agent relayed part of her terrifying experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE")
FAITH KATES, PETRA NEMCOVA'S AGENT: What really, really got to Petra the most, I think, out of this whole thing was when she was holding on. There was nothing she could do. And she kept seeing children, the bodies of children just float by. And the one thing Petra is all about is children. So it was devastating to her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That from "LARRY KING" last night.
Sales from Nemcova's hospital picture -- you may remember it from a few days ago -- will go to help fund Save The Children. She offered the photographer the opportunity to photograph her so that they could raise money with that photograph and help that program.
That's the latest that we have on her -- Heidi.
COLLINS: We want to go on and check with Jack now, The question of the day.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Heidi.
A New York family court judge has ordered a drug addicted woman to stop having kids until she proves she can care for the ones she already has. She has seven of them. They range in age from eight months to 12 years by seven different fathers. Six of the women's children are in foster care at the expense of the state. Opponents say the judge's decision tramples on the fundamental right of individuals to procreate. So we thought that would be a topic of discussion.
The question is can a judge order a woman to stop having children?
Art in Atlanta, Georgia: "I applaud the judge's decision. I believe that people should have to have a license to have kids. The right to procreate is followed by the obligation to take care of the offspring until the offspring can take care of itself."
Dean in Marlton, New Jersey: "Unfortunately, a judge cannot order a woman to stop having children, even if she is totally irresponsible and a drug addict. However, I'll bet if the state would offer to pay such a person $1,000 to have her tubes tied, said person would seize the opportunity. In the long run, such a policy would save the state and the taxpayer thousands of dollars in welfare payments."
David writes: "It's the socialization of America at its worst, where the government's inclined to overlook the principles our forefathers espoused. It's nothing less than a travesty that elected officials utilize their authority to pursue their personal agendas under the auspices of public welfare. The right of the individual should never be usurped to promote public policy."
And my pal Dave in Japan weighs in with this: "Jack, drug addicted mothers need judges to order them to stop having babies? I give up. If you see anything crawl out of the sea and try to breathe, tell it not to bother."
HEMMER: Seven children?
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Seven fathers?
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: The judge have any legal standing that you know of? Any precedent out there that might indicate whether or not his ruling stands?
CAFFERTY: Well, it's a woman judge. Her name is Marilyn O'Connor. She's a family court judge here in New York. And she did this once before and that order is currently on appeal. So the case hasn't been decided. This is the second time she's tried to do this. Certainly the attorney for this woman, whoever it is, would probably appeal the order. But right now there's no legal precedent for it.
She's trying, but the appellate courts in New York probably will -- I would guess -- will say no, she can't do that.
HEMMER: Rochester, right?
CAFFERTY: I don't know.
HEMMER: Yes? Upstate? I thought so. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: OK.
A stunning perspective on the devastation in Indonesia today. How bad is it? Wait until you hear the words of Colin Powell, ahead after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired January 5, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: After the tsunami, helping the smallest survivors. Are child traffickers now one of the threats?
One little boy lost after the waves -- the anguish of his family, actually hoping he's been kidnapped.
Where to start building when the devastation is so immense. Stunning destruction facing relief workers now.
And the animals who fled the waves. How did they know danger was coming? Explaining a sixth sense on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: This is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
A man who has truly seen virtually everything in war and who's seen other disasters, as well, well, he says he is just shocked. Colin Powell, the secretary of state, flying over some of the worst of the worst. His reaction to that was one of shock.
Here in Phuket, Thailand, where it is about 8:00 p.m., 8:00 on the evening, this hard hit area, frequented by thousands of tourists, many of them now still missing, of course. So many of them among the dead, as well. We've got their stories to talk about this evening -- or, I should say, really for you, Bill, this morning where you are -- good morning to you.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, thanks.
Good evening to you there in Thailand.
8:00 here in New York.
CNN has reporters all over the region bringing you the very latest on the rescue and the aid efforts.
Here are the new developments as we have them at this hour.
Hospitals in Aceh, Indonesia overwhelmed by the number of injured people swarming in from the hardest hit areas. As we talk about this, take note of the videotape. It's the fist time we've seen it, and it is just a scene of devastation there in Sumatra.
The U.N. reports 50,000 children are dead. Thirteen thousand have lost parents. In all, 1.5 million now in need of assistance, just staggering numbers to think about.
The secretary of state, Colin Powell, says even the little he has seen so far is beyond his professional experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I cannot begin to imagine the horror that went through the families and all of the people who heard this noise coming and then had their lives snuffed out by this wave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Secretary Powell's tour continues. Tomorrow, he attends an international relief conference. That's in Jakarta, Indonesia. He'll brief the president and Congress after that.
The U.S. set to increase the number of military helicopters bringing supplies and picking up the injured from 46 choppers to 90.
Millions, meanwhile, in Europe stood in silence for three minutes earlier today in remembrance of the lives lost.
Back to Soledad now in Thailand.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.
The latest from here, back to normalcy. School was on holiday. It's now back in session. But the numbers at one school, I think, very much a show of the devastation and the impact of the tsunami on children. At one school in the Phang Nga Province -- and this sort of goes along with those estimates of 30 percent of the victims being children -- at this one school, 128 children registered. Only 24, though, have showed up for classes. Are they dead, are they missing or are they just temporarily displaced? We do not know at this time.
Relief efforts by groups like World Vision, which has set up temporary centers in Phang Nga, continue to bring in the basic supplies. But there is no infrastructure, no business, no schools and obviously no homes in many, many areas.
And the devastation could bring a second catastrophe. The region relying heavily on tourism and the estimated $8 billion that brings in to the country. Survivors have been making it very clear that they want to repay the help that the Thai people gave to them by encouraging other tourists to come, to spend their money and help Thailand rebuild.
In fact, the focus on rebuilding is one we're going to talk about with Cindy Ratcliffe.
She is the head of the Phuket International Women's Club.
Nice to talk to you.
Thanks for coming in and being with us.
CINDY RATCLIFFE, PHUKET INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S CLUB: Nice to meet you.
O'BRIEN: You've lived here as an expat for 10 years.
RATCLIFFE: Twelve years, actually.
O'BRIEN: Oh, 12 years. Forgive me.
Give me a sense of how personally devastating this has been, considering the work you do here.
RATCLIFFE: It's, for us it's been quite devastating to see something that's been built up -- when we first came here, there was very little here in the way of the tourist industry, not many hotels. And the area, in the 12 years that we've been here, has been built up. And it's quite devastating, particularly in Khaolak, to see how much destruction there is.
Phuket itself hasn't suffered that much. We have been very lucky here. And the hotels, 80 percent of them are back to normal, no damage at all, no infrastructural damage at all.
O'BRIEN: I know you've been helping as -- working as a translator, an interpreter.
Give me a sense of what exactly you're doing or what you've been asked to do.
RATCLIFFE: What I was asked to do, first of all, I went to find out what was needed with the group, the Phuket International Women's Club. We have met women of various nationalities, many nationalities here, who could help. And I went to see what we could do to be of assistance in the way of translating and helping our fellow countrymen who are just about totally lost and abandoned. And I went to the Salagrand (ph) to find out and ended up staying there for three days basically announcing and helping people to do what they have to do, places that they needed to go to if they'd lost their passports and so on. And so they had to make police reports and generally helping them if they needed a translator. And also announcing, calling for other volunteers to do various tasks.
O'BRIEN: As we've mentioned, it could be a double blow if the tourism industry collapses.
RATCLIFFE: It could be a double blow for the...
O'BRIEN: What are the risks there?
RATCLIFFE: Well, that's my biggest fear, that people won't come here, particularly because the embassies are all telling people don't come here, it's dangerous, you might get disease and so on. Whereas if you're here in Phuket, there's no structural damage. We have a good infrastructure. We have water. We have drinking water. We have food.
O'BRIEN: Electricity. RATCLIFFE: Electricity. We have an international airport, where, that's how we got aid in so quickly, I think. It's been amazing to see how everybody has pulled together. The local expat community, with the Thai people, and many people who were here on holiday, volunteering to help, as well.
O'BRIEN: It's been very impressive.
RATCLIFFE: It's been impressive. And the aid has got out immediately to the outlying areas, particularly Khaolak, where, the most devastated area.
O'BRIEN: Terrible.
RATCLIFFE: And I actually worked for the last three days in the technical college, where the students also have been helping. There have been truckloads of supplies that have been coming in. They've unloaded the trucks, separated food, parcels, water...
O'BRIEN: No exaggeration, I think, to say lots and lots to do.
Cindy Ratcliffe, it's nice to have you come in and talk to us about some of your efforts.
Thank you very much for explaining really what is needed here for the people.
RATCLIFFE: Thank you.
And thank you very much for telling people to come back. That is exactly what we need.
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you.
RATCLIFFE: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Swedish police, we should tell you, are investigating rumors that a missing child was abducted. Is believing in this a sign of the sheer and utter desperation of parents who are holding out any hope for anything? Or is there some validity to this story?
CNN's Matthew Chance has our report tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's hard to imagine anyone could do what the family of Kristian Walker say may have happened to their boy. Awash with rumors about the whereabouts of the 12-year-old, his grandfather is making an urgent appeal for information.
DANIEL WALKER, GRANDFATHER OF MISSING BOY: Well, I tell you, I don't know that he's been kidnapped. I should say I'm hoping he's been kidnapped, as opposed to having been killed initially, because if he's been kidnapped, there's a possibility that he's alive. CHANCE: At first, it sounds like a desperate relative grasping for hope. But as he searched for his family in the aftermath of the tsunami, Daniel Walker says he came across doctors who recognized his grandson.
WALKER: At one hospital, two of the doctors, having looked at the photographs, said yes, we think that there was a boy here who was brought in for a rather minor ear complaint, who was never admitted to the hospital. He was brought in as an outpatient by -- together with an adult male, who was a European. They didn't know whether he was Swedish, German, English, whatever. This same man brought the same boy back a second day for additional treatment.
CHANCE: It isn't much, but the lead is being taken seriously by INTERPOL and a volunteer group has been set up to find other missing children and it fears ruthless pedophiles, even gangs, are exploiting the most vulnerable of this disaster.
ERIK LUNGMANN, SWEDISH VOLUNTEER: There is rumors of gangs that are working around here, doing these kind of things. And we just want to do everything we can, and we've done this for quite a while. So I feel we're ahead of a lot of this. Like you heard it by now, but we've been working with this for a couple of days. And authorities are involved. Interpol is involved and they know what they're doing.
CHANCE: But it is a disturbing possibility and one bound to haunt every mother and father that has lost a child here.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: Matthew Chance joins us now.
Matthew, how common or how possible is a rumor like this? On one hand, it seems completely impossible. On the other hand, though, knowing some of the history and what happens here in Thailand, I think there could be some validity.
Give us a sense of what the real truth is.
CHANCE: Well, I think it is possible. And certainly the governments involves, the Swedish government, the Thai government, do want to do everything possible to make sure that they show their publics that they're leaving no stone unturned. And so I think we're seeing a bit of that now with the Swedish, send a team of police out here and with Interpol being involved, as well. They want to really chase up these kinds of reports.
At the same time, here in Thailand, there are pedophiles operating. There are gangs that operate that are involved in human trafficking of other kinds, as well. And so this is a real problem in this country. It goes on all the time. And that's, I think, where the real concern is, and that's what the aid agencies are saying, that people are coming here and exploiting this terrible situation.
O'BRIEN: It is so sad to think that a parent would look at the thought of a child, their child being kidnapped as a positive. I mean, really, I think it really underscores just how horrible this tragedy has been.
CHANCE: Well, exactly. It must have been so difficult for people to just take on board that a member of their family, a child, had been lost in this terrible tsunami, yet alone think that, you know, after you've accepted that, when you believe that the child is dead and gone forever, to then think that there's a possibility that he or she could have survived and then been abducted from his or her hospital bed. It must be absolute torture for these people -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Oh, it is. It is. It's just heartbreaking and I feel like we say that each and every night, but it is just heartbreaking.
Matthew Chance, thank you for that report.
And, Bill, we'll leave it there for now from here.
And let's send it back to you in New York.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks.
We'll see you next hour there in Phuket.
And a reminder to our viewers, an unmatched team of correspondents on the front lines of this story in four different countries, including Soledad.
Stay with CNN throughout the day for the very latest developments as we get them first here.
Later tonight, another reminder, 7:00 Eastern, we'll give you another prime time special, called "Turning the Tide." That's tonight. Then on Thursday night, we'll get you another special at 10:00 Eastern called "Saving the Children."
Our team of correspondents and anchors pitching in on that special, as well.
This is Heidi Collins -- good morning to you.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you.
HEMMER: How are you?
COLLINS: I'm all right.
We want to get to some other news now this morning, though.
Another U.S. soldier has been killed in Iraq. Military sources say an American patrol came under fire overnight in northern Iraq. Two other U.S. soldiers were wounded in that attack. The number of U.S. troops injured since the Iraq war began last March has now passed the 10,000 mark.
Here in the United States, the opposition, some opposition, that is, this morning against Alberto Gonzales. He's President Bush's pick for attorney general. His confirmation hearing is set for tomorrow. But a small group of military veterans is preparing to protest today. They say Gonzales opened the door for the use of torture against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Gonzales is expected to be confirmed.
Delta Airlines is working hard to woo customers. As of today, Delta is cutting domestic fares by up to 50 percent and reducing the fee for changing tickets from $100 to $50. Delta has been expected to slash fares this week, a move aimed at keeping it out of bankruptcy.
Finally, Elizabeth Smart's father says he wants a quick end to the charges against her suspected kidnapper. Smart was found in Salt Lake City nine months after apparently being kidnapped from her home in 2002. According to an Associated Press report, her dad says he wants to spare Smart from an upcoming trial and would consider a plea deal for the suspect, Brian David Mitchell. Prosecutors, though, say they are unaware of any plea discussions.
HEMMER: That's an interesting...
COLLINS: Pretty remarkable.
HEMMER: Yes. An interesting development, too.
Thank you, Heidi.
The weather is getting tough, by the way. This wicked winter system now making its way through the Midwest already today. Bound for Chicago, later Detroit, then the Northeast, that storm has already caused problems across the Great Plains. There is ice about an inch thick in parts of Kansas and Missouri. Trees have been snapped, power lines downed in areas, leaving thousands already in the dark.
Let's get back to Rob Marciano live in Schiller Park, Illinois, just outside the airport at O'Hare -- how are you, Rob?
Good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Doing great, Bill.
The snow is coming down. We've got about two inches on the ground and we're expecting anywhere from six to 12 inches, which may not seem a lot, know but you've got to remember, Chicago and the rest of the Midwest not near a moisture source. So when we talk about the feet of snow that's falling out in the mountains of California or, you know, a couple of feet that could snow in a blizzard out across the Northeast, they're near oceans.
So to get snow here in the double digits, that's a major storm. And this one is expected to be the biggest storm of the season. Obviously, a major metropolitan area, traffic a big issue.
We have a camera shot out to give you a shot of Highway 294 here, which runs north to south, kind of outside the city. If you want to bypass downtown traffic, this is what you take, traveling north to Milwaukee, south to Indiana and the rest of Illinois. You can see the roadways looking pretty good at this time. The last week and a half, temperatures have been well above freezing, so the ground is still warm. But as the snow continues to pick up, we expect more accumulation.
Speaking of accumulation, these pictures out of Desoto, Kansas. One, two and three inches of ice accumulating on tree limbs for sure, and that's bringing down power lines. We had 80,000 people without power in Kansas and in Missouri alone.
And in Nebraska, some counties there with snow totals lining up. Hall County, six inches; Clay County, six inches; Adams and Franklin Counties, 10 inches of snow. Most of Nebraska above the rain-snow line. They're in the snow. Omaha, it's snowing right now.
Where is the rain-snow line? We take you to the radar loop. Chicago right now in the snow. Omaha in the snow. Des Moines in the snow.
South of there and to the east of there is where that rain-snow becomes an icy mix, and that's where the dangerous implications are for sure.
Here in Chicago, the heaviest amounts of snow are expected to begin to pile up later on this afternoon. With that, winds gusting to 30 miles an hour, wind chills in the teens and single numbers.
Behind me is not only a truck stop where some truckers are taking a leave, maybe, resting up for the travel north or south, but O'Hare Airport also behind me. It's likely not going to close, but certainly delays and some cancellations there.
There are political implications, Bill, as far as what they do with the roads around here. Back in 1979, they had 20 inches of snow and the city pretty much shut down. The mayor at the time didn't handle it too well and locals say here that's why he wasn't reelected. So there's a lot of pressure on them to do a good job, and they do a good job here in Chicago -- back to you.
HEMMER: Keep the streets clear and the potholes filled, right?
MARCIANO: That's right.
HEMMER: Two jobs.
Thank you, Rob.
We'll check in later.
COLLINS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you, Bill.
COLLINS: An Alabama man plucks a little boy from a deadly wave as he holds on desperately for his own survival. How he saved one young life while another slipped away. HEMMER: Also, how do children cope mentally with a monumental tragedy? Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at some rather unique approaches, still to come this hour.
COLLINS: And the most surprising tsunami survivors -- animals. Could a sixth sense be used to save human lives? We'll talk about that ahead, on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: With the death toll in Asia now more than 155,000 people, it's interesting to note that the number of animals killed by the tsunami is incredibly low. Did they know something that many humans did not?
William Karesh is with the Wildlife Conservation Society.
He is joining me now to talk a little bit more about this.
Thanks for being here.
WILLIAM KARESH, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: My pleasure.
COLLINS: It really is fascinating. I mean we hear a lot about animals having a sixth sense.
Do you think that came into play here?
KARESH: Yes, and I think, when I think about the sixth sense of animals, it's probably common sense. And what they do is they pay attention to what's around them. Their senses are heightened. And they actually respond. And I think we're tuned out very often.
COLLINS: Well, in particular, there's been some research done about earth tremors, saying that animals really do feel it before humans do.
How does that work in an animal's body, or brain, maybe it is?
KARESH: Well, and I think it's both. I think they're very sensitive in their feet, in their bodies. Certainly, snakes are lying on the ground so they pick it up. But when we look at elephants, they have -- the bottom of their foot is almost like a leather hassock. And they feel it like a drum and they can pick up vibrations.
And then they respond, usually, with fear.
COLLINS: Yes. And we're looking at some of the animals now that were left behind, some -- we see elephants now. But we saw dogs, cats. In fact, during one of our correspondents, Anderson Cooper, was out there in Sri Lanka. During one of his live shots, there was a stray dog that came up to him kind of out of nowhere and surprising to see that these animals even survived. We see it here now. It's just amazing.
Do you think people should be looking to animals for their sixth sense?
KARESH: I think there are a lot of things we can learn from animals. And we see it all over -- or all around the world. The Wildlife Conservation Society, we have hundreds of staff, Indonesian, Malaysians. And I think when you get, when you talk to the people that work in the field, my experience there is you can pick up a lot of clues from the animals. The question is, you know, they're very sensitive to things, but they're not very specific.
COLLINS: Sure.
KARESH: So to run into the forest every time you see a dog running, you know, we'd waste a lot of time. So it's hard.
But we deal with a lot of health issues. So like Ebola, hemorrhagic fever, we see animals dying before people are dying. And you do get an early warning. It's like the canary in the cave.
COLLINS: Yes. And now it seems like hindsight is 20-20.
KARESH: That's right.
COLLINS: When we look back at the behavior of these animals, it's much easier to say well, this is what they were, you know, afraid of. In fact, there was actually another story of someone who survived tsunami. He is an Army veteran with special ops.
Let's go ahead and listen to what he had to say last night on "LARRY KING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE")
STEVEN FOSTER, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: All of a sudden, I was training the guy I was standing there with. The birds flew, the dogs kind of snapped to attention like they were, you know, like pointing a bird or something. They tucked and ran back up the street.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Another instance of that.
KARESH: Sure.
COLLINS: As you said, though, really hard to know what to do and how different that behavior is, if the dog or the animal is just kind of feeling nervous.
KARESH: That's right. But I think one lesson, as I mentioned, was animals tend to pay attention. So that was a great example. The birds flew away and then the other animals key in on that. And then they get nervous, too. So, sometimes I've been out like stalking an elephant and I'll scare some birds. And the elephant notices the birds flying and then the elephant runs away. So they're very sensitive to what's going on.
COLLINS: He knew danger was coming, right. KARESH: And their response is to run. Why not? It's -- they can always come back later if it's safe. So it's -- they're very risk averse, really.
KARESH: If we could only talk to the animals, hmmm?
COLLINS: Absolutely.
KARESH: William Karesh, we appreciate your insight today.
COLLINS: Thank you.
KARESH: Thank you.
COLLINS: Bill.
HEMMER: Heidi, in a moment here, is there trouble ahead for the president's pick for attorney general? There is some grumbling in D.C. this morning. We'll tell you what's that all about in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Czech model Petra Nemcova survived the tsunami. She held on in a tree for eight hours. Her boyfriend still listed as missing. She's in a hospital still in Thailand.
And last night her agent relayed part of her terrifying experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE")
FAITH KATES, PETRA NEMCOVA'S AGENT: What really, really got to Petra the most, I think, out of this whole thing was when she was holding on. There was nothing she could do. And she kept seeing children, the bodies of children just float by. And the one thing Petra is all about is children. So it was devastating to her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That from "LARRY KING" last night.
Sales from Nemcova's hospital picture -- you may remember it from a few days ago -- will go to help fund Save The Children. She offered the photographer the opportunity to photograph her so that they could raise money with that photograph and help that program.
That's the latest that we have on her -- Heidi.
COLLINS: We want to go on and check with Jack now, The question of the day.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Heidi.
A New York family court judge has ordered a drug addicted woman to stop having kids until she proves she can care for the ones she already has. She has seven of them. They range in age from eight months to 12 years by seven different fathers. Six of the women's children are in foster care at the expense of the state. Opponents say the judge's decision tramples on the fundamental right of individuals to procreate. So we thought that would be a topic of discussion.
The question is can a judge order a woman to stop having children?
Art in Atlanta, Georgia: "I applaud the judge's decision. I believe that people should have to have a license to have kids. The right to procreate is followed by the obligation to take care of the offspring until the offspring can take care of itself."
Dean in Marlton, New Jersey: "Unfortunately, a judge cannot order a woman to stop having children, even if she is totally irresponsible and a drug addict. However, I'll bet if the state would offer to pay such a person $1,000 to have her tubes tied, said person would seize the opportunity. In the long run, such a policy would save the state and the taxpayer thousands of dollars in welfare payments."
David writes: "It's the socialization of America at its worst, where the government's inclined to overlook the principles our forefathers espoused. It's nothing less than a travesty that elected officials utilize their authority to pursue their personal agendas under the auspices of public welfare. The right of the individual should never be usurped to promote public policy."
And my pal Dave in Japan weighs in with this: "Jack, drug addicted mothers need judges to order them to stop having babies? I give up. If you see anything crawl out of the sea and try to breathe, tell it not to bother."
HEMMER: Seven children?
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Seven fathers?
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: The judge have any legal standing that you know of? Any precedent out there that might indicate whether or not his ruling stands?
CAFFERTY: Well, it's a woman judge. Her name is Marilyn O'Connor. She's a family court judge here in New York. And she did this once before and that order is currently on appeal. So the case hasn't been decided. This is the second time she's tried to do this. Certainly the attorney for this woman, whoever it is, would probably appeal the order. But right now there's no legal precedent for it.
She's trying, but the appellate courts in New York probably will -- I would guess -- will say no, she can't do that.
HEMMER: Rochester, right?
CAFFERTY: I don't know.
HEMMER: Yes? Upstate? I thought so. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: OK.
A stunning perspective on the devastation in Indonesia today. How bad is it? Wait until you hear the words of Colin Powell, ahead after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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