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Indonesia On Year Anniversary Of Deadly Tsunami; Latest Developments In Bush Domestic Spying Program

Aired December 26, 2005 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you.
I'm Miles O'Brien.

Today, the first anniversary of that devastating Asian tsunami in which nearly a quarter million people died. We'll go live to one of the hardest hit areas for a look at recovery.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello.

Soledad has the day off.

Are U.S. telephone and Internet companies assisting the White House to spy on you? The latest revelations on a secret program to monitor communications into and out of the United States.

O'BRIEN: And a developing story in New Jersey. One of two police officers who drove off a raised drawbridge has now been found. We'll have the latest on the search on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning.

We're glad you're with us on this day after Christmas.

Good to have you with us.

COSTELLO: Thanks.

And Happy Holidays to you.

O'BRIEN: Soledad...

COSTELLO: Happy Hanukah and Happy Kwanzaa now.

O'BRIEN: All of that.

And Soledad is off all this week.

On this day one year ago, the ocean rose up and swept across thousands of miles. The tsunami killed more than 200,000 people, left hundreds of thousands homeless in Southeast Asia.

People are remembering that awful day with ceremonies in several nations.

Our Atika Shubert is in Banda Aceh, one of the worst hit areas -- hello, Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, I'm actually in front of Aceh's great mosque, where evening prayer is now in progress. That is the final event to mark this one year since the tsunami struck.

Indonesian President Bambang Yudhoyono is at the prayers this evening. He was also at a separate ceremony earlier this morning, where, at 8:15 a.m. local time, there was a moment of silence and also the sounding of sirens. That's Indonesia's new tsunami warning system that has just been put in. 8:15, of course, was the exact moment that the tsunami wave struck Aceh's coastline, killing more than 160,000 people.

But interestingly, Miles, when we talked to survivors over the last few days, they said they would do nothing special on this day, just be thankful for what they did have for those family members that did manage to survive the tsunami and be grateful for all the international aid that's come in.

O'BRIEN: Atika, tell us about other countries.

What other sorts of ceremonies are underway today?

SHUBERT: Well, of course, there were other memorial ceremonies in the Indian Ocean region. In Thailand, first, there were thousands of people that turned out to the beaches there, as you know. Phuket and Khao Lak in southern Thailand were hardest hit. They were popular holiday destinations and out of the more than 5,000 people that were killed there, a little bit more than half are believed to have been foreign tourists.

There are also memorial services in India and also on the island nation of Sri Lanka. There -- Sri Lanka was actually the second hardest hit. More than 31,000 people died there. And in the devastated town of Galle, in particularly, in Sri Lanka, there was a memorial service near the Queen of the Sea, which was a passenger train that was hit directly by the tsunami. And all 1,000 passengers aboard were believed to have been killed.

O'BRIEN: Atika Shubert in Banda Aceh.

Thank you very much -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Now to that National Security Agency program President Bush secretly approved to spy on Americans in this country. Apparently it went farther than first thought. Far more information is going into the NSA than first reported.

Elaine Quijano is at the White House this morning -- tell us the scope of this program, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Well, a source familiar with the program confirms to CNN that the NSA collects traces and analyzes large amounts of information with the help of U.S. telephone and Internet companies.

Now, the story was first reported on by the "New York Times" on Saturday. It's called data mining -- gathering and sorting through vast amounts of phone and Internet traffic, looking for patterns that might point to terror suspects or plots.

Meantime, the debate over the larger program itself continues. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says he sees nothing wrong with the president authorizing the domestic monitoring.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, of course it should continue. Now, what -- I think, however, the president will have to determine what he wishes to say to the Congress about it or what they wish to do with respect to the court that's established for this purpose. And I'll let them work that out.

But you have to do this in order to protect ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: And President Bush insists that the program only targets the international communications of Americans in the U.S. suspected of having terror ties.

Nevertheless, some members of Congress have expressed a great deal of concern because they do not require -- the program does not require court-issued warrants. In fact, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter, says he plans to hold hearings on this issue early next year -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Elaine Quijano reporting live from the White House this morning.

O'BRIEN: A new wave of violence in Iraq. At least 16 killed today in a number of attacks and more than two dozen hurt.

Aneesh Raman live now for us in Baghdad -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the morning marred by violence in the Iraqi capital. At least four car bombs detonating here in the course of just about two hours. The U.S. military now says one of those was a suicide car bomb. Three of the four took place in the Shiite neighborhood of Karata. It began around 9:00 a.m. this morning. In all, four Iraqis were killed, 22 others wounded. Among the dead, two Iraqi police officers. Iraqi police patrols seem to have been the consistent target today by all of these car bombs.

Now, also, northeast of the capital, in the town of Biarritz (ph), near Baquba, five Iraqi police officers were killed after their quick reaction force met with machine gun fire from unknown assailants. Again, Iraqi police there the target.

Overall, they've been the consistent target of the insurgency, along with the Iraqi civilian population. Now, also, I just wanted to mention, Miles, Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko, making an unannounced visit today to Iraq. He's here to oversee the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops. Some 900 or so remain in south and central Iraq. They are being pulled out and will all be home by Friday -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Aneesh, we have reports of additional bloodshed involving U.S. soldiers?

RAMAN: Yes, the military announcing today the death of two U.S. soldiers, members of Task Force Baghdad, killed yesterday, both of them by IEDs, improvised explosive devices. They remain the biggest killer of U.S. forces here.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, here over the weekend, had a briefing on these IEDs, how they are becoming increasingly sophisticated and ways the U.S. military is trying to mitigate their impact -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman in Baghdad, thanks very much -- Carol.

COSTELLO: A developing story in New Jersey this morning.

Rescuers are searching the freezing Hackensack River. Two police officers in an EMS vehicle went off an open drawbridge in the fog last night. There are reports one of those officers has been found.

Chris Huntington live in Jersey City, just west of New York City, to tell you more about that -- hello, Chris.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.

The reports that one of the officers has been found come from the New York City Police Department, who sent their divers over here to be part of the search and rescue team. The Jersey City Police Department is not confirming anything at this point.

What we can tell you is that it was very, very foggy here along what is Route 440, also known as the Route 1 and 9 trucking route, a heavily traveled route here in Jersey City and Carney, New Jersey. We're about five miles from New York City.

Carol, as you mentioned, two officers in an EMS vehicle were answering a call. There are varying reports as to exactly what that call was. One wire report saying that they were simply coming to the drawbridge to help manage traffic flow in this critical area and during a very, very foggy time.

They plunged off of the bridge. Keep in mind, this is not a typical drawbridge where the sides flap up. It's the center span that raises vertically, leaving two lips, if you will, on either side of the considerable span over the Hackensack River. Frigid water -- we're told 41 degrees. You cannot survive very long in that kind of water.

The Coast Guard, though, confirms that they will continue the search at daybreak, which certainly implies that they're still looking for something. They did recover the vehicle. That was pulled out of the water at a little bit before two in the morning.

We are expecting a press conference from the Jersey City police at about 8:00 a.m. so about 50 minutes from now. And certainly we will bring you the details as soon as they become available to us -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I just want to make it clear as to how this happened. So the bridge raises something like this and they were on this bottom span and drove straight and into the water?

HUNTINGTON: Correct. It's a -- it's not a flapping situation, so there would have been -- there'd be nothing as a barricade in front of them, except, perhaps, typical gate barricades. And, again, conflicting reports as to whether those barricades were there, whether those lights were on. That ordinarily should be the case.

But there would not have been a big piece of roadway raised vertically to stop anybody from traveling over. The center span of the bridge lifts vertically. It leaves a lip, described in one local report as something akin to the end of the world for them to dive off you Carol.

COSTELLO: Chris Huntington live in Jersey City this morning.

Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Time now to check in with Bonnie Schneider -- Bonnie, did I call you Becky earlier?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You sure did.

O'BRIEN: Thank you for being so polite as not to say you fool, Miles.

SCHNEIDER: No, no, no.

O'BRIEN: I apologize.

SCHNEIDER: It's two Bs. That's OK.

O'BRIEN: I took a week off. I know who you are.

SCHNEIDER: OK, good.

O'BRIEN: Good to see you.

SCHNEIDER: Good to see you, as well, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: All right, fess up, you don't like all those ties and the blouse or whatever the doodad that you got. So it's either off to the return desk or these days a lot of people get gift cards. So today could be a very busy day at the shopping malls. John Zarrella got the short straw on this day. He's got to be out there with the crowds -- well, actually, if you got a gift card, maybe you can sneak that in between live shots.

He joins us from Aventura, Florida -- good morning, John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't know, Miles. I know I drew the short straw. You didn't do a whole better yourself, this week.

O'BRIEN: I'm here.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

We're at the Target store in Aventura. And they opened just about 15 minutes ago. And you can see people are still coming in the door right now. They had about 50 or 60 people rush through the door. I was a little surprised. I didn't expect to see that much activity. I asked some of the folks as they were coming in the door if they had returns and they said no, they were all here for the sale.

So of the 50, 60, 70 people that are coming in the door right now and have come in, not a single person has gone to the return aisles.

Now, this is considered one of the top ten busiest days of the year for shopping. And traditionally it had been a day when most people made coming back with those ties that they didn't want or the belt that didn't fit. But now it really is more of a day that people come for the bargains, and that's what the folks told me here.

They come in for the gift cards. They got gift cards for the holidays. Or they come in for those huge sales -- 50 to 60 percent off here. A lot of people, I said, well, what are you guys doing up so early? They said what do you mean early? This isn't early.

The J.C. Penney had opened at 6:00 a.m. and these people had already been there and were on their way to the second store. And they they're going to go back to the mall.

But you can take a look over here to the return area and you can see nobody at the return area.

Now, one of the -- a couple of the big selling items this year that everybody is out of, of course, the iPod, we're told here. You can't find an iPod. The iPod Nano. You can't find Tamagotchis. And if you have young kids, you know what that is. I can't even explain it. I know you feed the thing, it comes on a keychain, you put it to sleep, you wake it up. And the kids just love these things.

Also, a lot of the Game Box -- Game Boy items and the 360 -- that's the Xbox 360 items, those were huge sellers this year, as well.

In South Florida, one of the interesting things is before Christmas, sales were, according to surveys, a little bit down, Miles. And a lot of people attributed that to the aftermath of hurricane Wilma -- Miles. O'BRIEN: John Zarrella.

I suspect there's no Xbox 360s there, by the way.

ZARRELLA: Not one.

O'BRIEN: But could you pan over and show me the return desk one more time?

ZARRELLA: Sure. Sure.

O'BRIEN: Who is on the return desk there?

ZARRELLA: Give them the return desk.

O'BRIEN: Who is over there? Oh, she's got somebody there. A minute ago, she looked like she was polishing...

ZARRELLA: There you go.

O'BRIEN: ... a bar. Is she serving drinks over there, too?

ZARRELLA: I actually -- I was having coffee with her a few minutes ago. That's how slow it is right now. And they don't expect to have a big day here today, you know, just -- a pretty slow day in the return area. It will be, according to Target, a huge day here. And the Target manager told us that actually his store here, sales were up this year for the holidays and gift cards made up 25 percent of the holiday sales that they did here. So this should be a big day for people coming in to trade in those gift cards.

Do you like my shirt, Miles?

This was a Christmas gift, by the way.

O'BRIEN: All right. Well, if you -- presumably, if you finish the day with that same shirt on, it was a hit.

John Zarrella at a Target store in Aventura.

Thank you very much.

Varsity shoppers out there at this hour.

Coming up on the program, more on the first anniversary of that Asian tsunami. We'll talk to a retired New York banker who did her part to help the victims. She adopted an entire village. We'll tell you her story next.

COSTELLO: Also, what is the most important issue facing President Bush in 2006? We're going to take a closer look at that.

O'BRIEN: And later, a Christmas Eve one surfer will never forget. He was nearly killed, or at least lost a foot, by a huge shark. He shares his story ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: This was the scene one year ago today as that killer tsunami swept all across the countries that ring the Indian Ocean. No one will ever know the full toll, but it approaches a quarter million people, a quarter million people. And to this day, there are millions still without homes in the wake of that tsunami.

The question is, many people ask the question, well, what can one person do?

You're about to meet the answer, one person who has done an awful lot.

Retired New York City banker Sara Henderson literally adopted a small Indonesian village and has done an awful lot of good over this past year.

Sara, good to have you with us.

SARA HENDERSON, BUILDING BRIDGES TO THE FUTURE FEDERATION: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: And you have a lot of history in Indonesia over the past 15 years prior to -- excuse me, after your banking career. And when the tsunami struck, did you immediately say I've got to go and do something?

HENDERSON: No, I didn't. I felt -- when the tsunami struck, it was the day after Christmas. I was in New York with my family. And I didn't really -- I went back to Indonesia at the end of March and went immediately with a friend up Aceh.

O'BRIEN: And you had familiarity with the country and the language, at least some of the languages...

HENDERSON: Yes. Not Acehnese.

O'BRIEN: Indonesian, at least.

HENDERSON: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And you picked a town, one particular town.

HENDERSON: Right.

O'BRIEN: How did you pick this town and tell us about that. Did it strike you right away as something that you wanted -- a place you wanted to help out?

HENDERSON: What happened was I went down the west coast. And I got down to where the road just wouldn't go anymore. And I was looking for a small village because I'm using my own funds. So a man down there found me this small village and that's it.

O'BRIEN: So your goal was to find something that you -- that was manageable for one person... HENDERSON: That's right.

O'BRIEN: ... and the amount of means that you had.

HENDERSON: That's right.

O'BRIEN: So you were kind of trying to tailor something...

HENDERSON: That's right.

O'BRIEN: And when you got to this town, did you get -- just get right to work? You walked in and said hello...

HENDERSON: No. No, it doesn't work that way.

O'BRIEN: How did it go?

HENDERSON: It works that you speak to the head man and then you get going back and forth. And then if it's agreeable, then there's paperwork that has to be done. And then you can start.

O'BRIEN: All right. So then you got started. And the first houses that you helped rebuild, you literally drew from your own funds to do that.

HENDERSON: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And tell us about that whole, what that was like, giving people homes once again.

HENDERSON: Well, we're still working on it. The head of the village had said to me, said to me that if they could just have homes, they could -- they could go on with their lives. But what they needed most was homes.

O'BRIEN: Yes, and that's a big deal.

HENDERSON: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And you -- and as we look at some of the efforts there -- you've called upon the help of others to continue your efforts.

Tell us how that has gone.

HENDERSON: Well, we've been able to -- I started a foundation called Building Bridges To The Future and people have been kind enough and generous enough to donate. And because of that, we've been able to do other things. We've built, in the same village, the first woman's center, and...

O'BRIEN: Because there are so many widows, right?

HENDERSON: Right.

O'BRIEN: And that's important. And they don't know, necessarily, how to do basic things? HENDERSON: No. Well, a lot of them weren't head of household.

O'BRIEN: Right.

HENDERSON: And the women's center is the first one in post- tsunami Aceh.

O'BRIEN: As you look back on this year, the terrible devastation, the terrible tragedy, and then your contribution in the wake of it, what kinds of emotions are you left with?

HENDERSON: I feel good about it. I feel good about myself. I do wish, though, that bigger NGOs, non-government organizations, would do something. They have a lot of money.

O'BRIEN: And they haven't been spending it like they should?

HENDERSON: No. In the village where -- in Lompoc village, nobody has yet, a year later, in a village that lost more than half its population, there has been no trauma counseling, none at all.

O'BRIEN: So, people watching right now, what can one person do to help out? If the NGOs, the big organizations, aren't helping out, what should they do? If they -- I mean you are fortunate enough and had the local familiarity to go there and do something.

HENDERSON: Right. Right. Right. I think that people, if they really want to help, they don't understand a dollar helps, $3 help, and that people can do things for others without it costing money, I mean, or going there, you know?

O'BRIEN: Sara, I bet when you leave Lompoc, people are very anxious. They want you back, I'm sure.

HENDERSON: Yes, until it's finished.

O'BRIEN: All right.

HENDERSON: Until it's finished.

O'BRIEN: I assume you'll be back soon.

HENDERSON: Yes, I'm going back soon.

O'BRIEN: Sara Henderson, a pleasure to meet you.

Thanks for dropping by.

HENDERSON: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: You can help out, help her rebuild. You can make a contribution to Sara's foundation by logging onto buildingbridgestothefuture -- all one word there -- buildingbridgestothefuture -- you see that on the screen there -- .org, and see how you can help Sara out as she rebuilds one town that needs her help. Back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Did you get a gift card this Christmas? Well, there are some things you need to know about how they work.

And with that, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Carol, these are getting more and more popular. We've been talking about them for the past couple of years. Under the tree in abundance, and I bet you might have one or someone in your family has these.

I'm kind of a mixed mind here. On the one hand, they're a bit of a copout. You have to do the work and get the gift. On the other hand, at least you don't get a gift you don't want.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

SERWER: So that's good stuff.

Let's go through it here.

$18.5 billion worth of these babies sold, up 6.6 percent, which is a pretty good clip. And the average American consumer spent $88 on cards this holiday season.

Now, there are some things to look out for, to wit, the expiration date. And, you know, this is a controversial point. Some of them expire after a year and if you don't keep track of them, they are worthless in 12 months. The good companies -- yes, the good companies -- don't have expiration dates.

COSTELLO: Yes, because you've paid for the gift card as the gift card...

SERWER: Right.

COSTELLO: ... as the gifts

SERWER: Why should it expire?

COSTELLO: Exactly.

SERWER: There are also service fees, interest charges, other things like that, to be aware of. And then, of course, can you use them in the store or online? Again, the good stores, you go to someplace just like a Target, they don't have expiration fees. You can use them on the Web site and you can use them in the store any time you want. And, actually, you can call the number on the back and punch in the number and they'll tell you how much is there, how much is left, when you spent it.

So, you know, a full service place like that makes sense. COSTELLO: So maybe next Christmas, when you go to buy the gift card, you'll have to ask a whole bunch of questions, because how do you know?

SERWER: Yes.

COSTELLO: How do you know if the gift card you're giving someone expires or diminishes in value?

SERWER: Well, it's worth asking, I think.

COSTELLO: Good advice.

SERWER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Andy.

O'BRIEN: Coming up, 2005 has been a rocky year for President Bush, from Katrina to Iraq. What will the big issue that will face him be in 2006? We'll talk about that coming up.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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